Methods of increasing the cellulolytic enhancing activity of a polypeptide

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to methods of increasing the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, comprising: adding a soluble activating divalent metal cation to a composition comprising the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, wherein the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation. The present invention also relates to compositions, methods for degrading or converting a cellulose-containing material, and methods for producing a fermentation product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/251,803 filed on Aug. 30, 2016, which is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/598,723 filed on Nov. 3, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,453,213, which is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 national application of PCT/US2008/065360 filed on May 30, 2008 and claims priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/941,243 filed on May 31, 2007, which applications are fully incorporated herein by reference.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

This application contains a Sequence Listing in computer readable form. The computer readable form is incorporated herein by reference.

REFERENCE TO A DEPOSIT OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL

This application contains a reference to a deposit of biological material, which deposit is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for increasing the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

Description of the Related Art

Cellulose is a polymer of the simple sugar glucose covalently bonded by beta-1,4-linkages. Many microorganisms produce enzymes that hydrolyze beta-linked glucans. These enzymes include endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases, and beta-glucosidases. Endoglucanases digest the cellulose polymer at random locations, opening it to attack by cellobiohydrolases. Cellobiohydrolases sequentially release molecules of cellobiose from the ends of the cellulose polymer. Cellobiose is a water-soluble beta-1,4-linked dimer of glucose. Beta-glucosidases hydrolyze cellobiose to glucose.

The conversion of cellulosic feedstocks into ethanol has the advantages of the ready availability of large amounts of feedstock, the desirability of avoiding burning or land filling the materials, and the cleanliness of the ethanol fuel. Wood, agricultural residues, herbaceous crops, and municipal solid wastes have been considered as feedstocks for ethanol production. These materials primarily consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Once the cellulose is converted to glucose, the glucose is easily fermented by yeast into ethanol.

WO 2005/074647 discloses isolated polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity and polynucleotides thereof from Thielavia terrestris. WO 2005/074656 discloses an isolated polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a polynucleotide thereof from Thermoascus aurantiacus. U.S. Published Application Serial No. 2007/0077630 discloses an isolated polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a polynucleotide thereof from Trichoderma reesei.

It would be an advantage in the art to improve the activity of polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for increasing the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods of increasing the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, comprising: adding a soluble activating divalent metal cation to a composition comprising the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

The present invention also relates to methods for degrading or converting a cellulose-containing material, comprising: treating the cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of a cellulolytic enzyme composition comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM.

The present invention also relates to methods for producing a fermentation product, comprising: (a) saccharifying a cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of a cellulolytic enzyme composition comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM; (b) fermenting the saccharified cellulose-containing material of step (a) with one or more fermenting microorganisms to produce the fermentation product; and (c) recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation.

The present invention also relates to compositions comprising a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

The present invention also relates to cellulolytic enzyme compositions comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by the cellulolytic enzyme compositions compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a restriction map of pMJ04.

FIG. 2 shows a restriction map of pCaHj527.

FIG. 3 shows a restriction map of pMT2188.

FIG. 4 shows a restriction map of pCaHj568.

FIG. 5 shows a restriction map of pMJ05.

FIG. 6 shows a restriction map of pSMai130.

FIG. 7 shows the DNA sequence and amino acid sequence of an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase native signal sequence (SEQ ID NOs: 57 and 58).

FIG. 8 shows the DNA sequence and amino acid sequence of a Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence (SEQ ID NOs: 61 and 62).

FIG. 9 shows a restriction map of pSMai135.

FIG. 10 shows a restriction map of pSMai140.

FIG. 11 shows a restriction map of pSaMe-F1.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D show the DNA sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG fusion protein (SEQ ID NOs: 25 and 26, respectively).

FIG. 13 shows a restriction map of pSaMe-FX.

FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D show the DNA sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein (SEQ ID NOs: 27 and 28, respectively).

FIG. 15 shows a restriction map of pAlLo47.

FIG. 16 shows the conversion of cellulose in pretreated corn stover to glucose and cellobiose with addition of various soluble divalent metal ions to a final concentration of 10 mM to mixtures including a fermentation broth that comprises Trichoderma reesei cellulolytic enzymes, an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein, and a Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

FIG. 17 shows the conversion of cellulose in pretreated corn stover to glucose and cellobiose with addition of various divalent metal ions to a final concentration of 1 mM in mixtures including a fermentation broth that comprises Trichoderma reesei cellulolytic enzymes and an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase with and without addition of a Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

FIG. 18 shows the conversion of cellulose in pretreated corn stover to glucose and cellobiose with addition of MgCl₂ and MnSO₄ to a final concentration of 0.0001 to 10 mM in mixtures including desalted or un-desalted fermentation broth that comprises Trichoderma reesei cellulolytic enzymes, an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein, and a Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

DEFINITIONS

Cellulolytic enhancing activity: The term “cellulolytic enhancing activity” is defined herein as a biological activity that enhances the hydrolysis of a cellulose-containing material by proteins having cellulolytic activity. For purposes of the present invention, cellulolytic enhancing activity is determined by measuring the increase in reducing sugars or the increase of the total of cellobiose and glucose from the hydrolysis of a cellulose-containing material by cellulolytic protein under the following conditions: 1-50 mg of total protein containing 80-99.5% w/w cellulolytic protein/g of cellulose in PCS and 0.5-20% w/w protein of cellulolytic enhancing activity for 1-7 day at 50° C. compared to a control hydrolysis with equal total protein loading without cellulolytic enhancing activity (1-50 mg of cellulolytic protein/g of cellulose in PCS). In a preferred aspect, a mixture of CELLUCLAST® 1.5 L (Novozymes A/S, Bagsvrd, Denmark) in the presence of 3% Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase (recombinantly produced in Aspergillus oryzae according to WO 02/095014) or 3% Aspergillus fumigatus beta-glucosidase (recombinantly produced in Aspergillus oryzae according to Example 22 of WO 02/095014) of cellulase protein loading is used as a standard of the cellulolytic activity.

The polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity have at least 20%, preferably at least 40%, more preferably at least 50%, more preferably at least 60%, more preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 80%, even more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, and even most preferably at least 100% of the cellulolytic enhancing activity of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14.

The polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity enhance the hydrolysis of a cellulose-containing material catalyzed by proteins having cellulolytic activity by reducing the amount of cellulolytic enzyme required to reach the same degree of hydrolysis preferably at least 0.1-fold, more at least 0.2-fold, more preferably at least 0.3-fold, more preferably at least 0.4-fold, more preferably at least 0.5-fold, more preferably at least 1-fold, more preferably at least 3-fold, more preferably at least 4-fold, more preferably at least 5-fold, more preferably at least 10-fold, more preferably at least 20-fold, even more preferably at least 30-fold, most preferably at least 50-fold, and even most preferably at least 100-fold.

Cellulolytic activity: The term “cellulolytic activity” is defined herein as cellulase activity (e.g., endoglucanase(s), cellobiohydrolase(s), beta-glucosidase(s), or combinations thereof) that hydrolyzes a cellulose-containing material. Cellulolytic protein may hydrolyze or hydrolyzes carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), thereby decreasing the viscosity of the incubation mixture. The resulting reduction in viscosity may be determined by a vibration viscosimeter (e.g., MIVI 3000 from Sofraser, France). Determination of cellulase activity, measured in terms of Cellulase Viscosity Unit (CEVU), quantifies the amount of catalytic activity present in a sample by measuring the ability of the sample to reduce the viscosity of a solution of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The assay is performed at the temperature and pH suitable for the cellulolytic protein and substrate.

For purposes of the present invention, cellulolytic activity is determined by measuring the increase in hydrolysis of a cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic composition under the following conditions: 1-50 mg of cellulolytic protein/g of cellulose in PCS for 1-7 day at 50° C. compared to a control hydrolysis without addition of cellulolytic protein.

Endoglucanase: The term “endoglucanase” is defined herein as an endo-1,4-(1,3; 1,4)-beta-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase (E.C. No. 3.2.1.4), which catalyses endohydrolysis of 1,4-beta-D-glycosidic linkages in cellulose, cellulose derivatives (such as carboxymethyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose), lichenin, beta-1,4 bonds in mixed beta-1,3 glucans such as cereal beta-D-glucans or xyloglucans, and other plant material containing cellulosic components. For purposes of the present invention, endoglucanase activity is determined using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) hydrolysis according to the procedure of Ghose, 1987, Pure and Appl. Chem. 59: 257-268.

Cellobiohydrolase: The term “cellobiohydrolase” is defined herein as a 1,4-beta-D-glucan cellobiohydrolase (E.C. 3.2.1.91), which catalyzes the hydrolysis of 1,4-beta-D-glucosidic linkages in cellulose, cellooligosaccharides, or any beta-1,4-linked glucose containing polymer, releasing cellobiose from the reducing or non-reducing ends of the chain. For purposes of the present invention, cellobiohydrolase activity is determined according to the procedures described by Lever et al., 1972, Anal. Biochem. 47: 273-279 and by van Tilbeurgh et al., 1982, FEBS Letters 149: 152-156; van Tilbeurgh and Claeyssens, 1985, FEBS Letters 187: 283-288. In the present invention, the Lever et al. method was employed to assess hydrolysis of cellulose in corn stover, while the method of van Tilbeurgh et al. was used to determine the cellobiohydrolase activity on a fluorescent disaccharide derivative.

Beta-glucosidase: The term “beta-glucosidase” is defined herein as a beta-D-glucoside glucohydrolase (E.C. 3.2.1.21), which catalyzes the hydrolysis of terminal non-reducing beta-D-glucose residues with the release of beta-D-glucose. For purposes of the present invention, beta-glucosidase activity is determined according to the basic procedure described by Venturi et al., 2002, J. Basic Microbiol. 42: 55-66, except different conditions were employed as described herein. One unit of beta-glucosidase activity is defined as 1.0 μmole of p-nitrophenol produced per minute at 50° C., pH 5 from 4 mM p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside as substrate in 100 mM sodium citrate, 0.01% TWEEN® 20.

Family 7, 12, 45, or 61 glycoside hydrolase: The term “Family 7 glycoside hydrolase” or “Family GH7”, “Family 12 glycoside hydrolase” or “Family GH12”, “Family 45 glycoside hydrolase” or “Family GH45”, and “Family 61 glycoside hydrolase” or “Family GH61” is defined herein as a polypeptide falling into the glycoside hydrolase Family 7, Family 12, Family 45, and Family 61, respectively, according to Henrissat, 1991, A classification of glycosyl hydrolases based on amino-acid sequence similarities, Biochem. J. 280: 309-316, and Henrissat B., and Bairoch A., 1996, Updating the sequence-based classification of glycosyl hydrolases, Biochem. J. 316: 695-696. Presently, Henrissat lists the GH61 Family as unclassified indicating that properties such as mechanism, catalytic nucleophile/base, catalytic proton donors, and 3-D structure are not known for polypeptides belonging to this family. A GH7, GH12, or GH45 protein is also referred to as a CEL7, CEL12, or CEL45 protein, respectively.

Cellulose-containing material: The predominant polysaccharide in the primary cell wall of biomass is cellulose, the second most abundant is hemi-cellulose, and the third is pectin. The secondary cell wall, produced after the cell has stopped growing, also contains polysaccharides and is strengthened by polymeric lignin covalently cross-linked to hemicellulose. Cellulose is a homopolymer of anhydrocellobiose and thus a linear beta-(1-4)-D-glucan, while hemicelluloses include a variety of compounds, such as xylans, xyloglucans, arabinoxylans, and mannans in complex branched structures with a spectrum of substituents. Although generally polymorphous, cellulose is found in plant tissue primarily as an insoluble crystalline matrix of parallel glucan chains. Hemicelluloses usually hydrogen bond to cellulose, as well as to other hemicelluloses, which help stabilize the cell wall matrix.

The cellulose-containing material can be any material containing cellulose. Cellulose is generally found, for example, in the stems, leaves, hulls, husks, and cobs of plants or leaves, branches, and wood of trees. The cellulose-containing material can be, but is not limited to, herbaceous material, agricultural residues, forestry residues, municipal solid wastes, waste paper, and pulp and paper mill residues. The cellulose-containing material can be any type of biomass including, but not limited to, wood resources, municipal solid waste, wastepaper, crops, and crop residues (see, for example, Wiselogel et al., 1995, in Handbook on Bioethanol (Charles E. Wyman, editor), pp. 105-118, Taylor & Francis, Washington D.C.; Wyman, 1994, Bioresource Technology 50: 3-16; Lynd, 1990, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 24/25: 695-719; Mosier et al., 1999, Recent Progress in Bioconversion of Lignocellulosics, in Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, T. Scheper, managing editor, Volume 65, pp. 23-40, Springer-Verlag, New York). It is understood herein that the cellulose-containing material is preferably in the form of lignocellulose, e.g., a plant cell wall material containing lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose in a mixed matrix.

In a preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is corn stover. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is corn fiber. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is corn cobs. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is switch grass. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is rice straw. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is paper and pulp processing waste. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is woody or herbaceous plants. In another preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is bagasse.

The cellulose-containing material may be used as is or may be subjected to pretreatment, using conventional methods known in the art. For example, physical pretreatment techniques can include various types of milling, irradiation, steaming/steam explosion, and hydrothermolysis; chemical pretreatment techniques can include dilute acid, alkaline, organic solvent, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and pH-controlled hydrothermolysis; and biological pretreatment techniques can involve applying lignin-solubilizing microorganisms (see, for example, Hsu, T.-A., 1996, Pretreatment of biomass, in Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization, Wyman, C. E., ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, D.C., 179-212; Ghosh, P., and Singh, A., 1993, Physicochemical and biological treatments for enzymatic/microbial conversion of lignocellulosic biomass, Adv. Appl. Microbiol. 39: 295-333; McMillan, J. D., 1994, Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass: a review, in Enzymatic Conversion of Biomass for Fuels Production, Himmel, M. E., Baker, J. O., and Overend, R. P., eds., ACS Symposium Series 566, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., chapter 15; Gong, C. S., Cao, N. J., Du, J., and Tsao, G. T., 1999, Ethanol production from renewable resources, in Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, Scheper, T., ed., Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 65: 207-241; Olsson, L., and Hahn-Hagerdal, B., 1996, Fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for ethanol production, Enz. Microb. Tech. 18: 312-331; and Vallander, L., and Eriksson, K.-E. L., 1990, Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials: State of the art, Adv. Biochem. Eng./Biotechnol. 42: 63-95).

Pre-treated corn stover: The term “PCS” or “Pre-treated Corn Stover” is defined herein as a cellulose-containing material derived from corn stover by treatment with heat and dilute acid. For purposes of the present invention, PCS is made by the method described in Example 20, or variations thereof in time, temperature and amount of acid.

Isolated polypeptide: The term “isolated polypeptide” as used herein refers to a polypeptide that is isolated from a source. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide is at least 1% pure, preferably at least 5% pure, more preferably at least 10% pure, more preferably at least 20% pure, more preferably at least 40% pure, more preferably at least 60% pure, even more preferably at least 80% pure, and most preferably at least 90% pure, as determined by SDS-PAGE.

Substantially pure polypeptide: The term “substantially pure polypeptide” denotes herein a polypeptide preparation that contains at most 10%, preferably at most 8%, more preferably at most 6%, more preferably at most 5%, more preferably at most 4%, more preferably at most 3%, even more preferably at most 2%, most preferably at most 1%, and even most preferably at most 0.5% by weight of other polypeptide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. It is, therefore, preferred that the substantially pure polypeptide is at least 92% pure, preferably at least 94% pure, more preferably at least 95% pure, more preferably at least 96% pure, more preferably at least 96% pure, more preferably at least 97% pure, more preferably at least 98% pure, even more preferably at least 99%, most preferably at least 99.5% pure, and even most preferably 100% pure by weight of the total polypeptide material present in the preparation. The polypeptides of the present invention are preferably in a substantially pure form, i.e., that the polypeptide preparation is essentially free of other polypeptide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. This can be accomplished, for example, by preparing the polypeptide by well-known recombinant methods or by classical purification methods.

Mature polypeptide: The term “mature polypeptide” is defined herein as a polypeptide having biological activity, e.g., enzyme activity, which is in its final form following translation and any post-translational modifications, such as N-terminal processing, C-terminal truncation, glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc.

Mature polypeptide coding sequence: The term “mature polypeptide coding sequence” is defined herein as a nucleotide sequence that encodes a mature polypeptide having biological activity.

Identity: The relatedness between two amino acid sequences or between two nucleotide sequences is described by the parameter “identity”.

For purposes of the present invention, the degree of identity between two amino acid sequences is determined using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, Trends in Genetics 16: 276-277), preferably version 3.0.0 or later. The optional parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EBLOSUM62 (EMBOSS version of BLOSUM62) substitution matrix. The output of Needle labeled “longest identity” (obtained using the −nobrief option) is used as the percent identity and is calculated as follows:

(Identical Residues×100)/(Length of Alignment−Total Number of Gaps in Alignment)

For purposes of the present invention, the degree of identity between two deoxyribonucleotide sequences is determined using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, supra) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, supra), preferably version 3.0.0 or later. The optional parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EDNAFULL (EMBOSS version of NCBI NUC4.4) substitution matrix. The output of Needle labeled “longest identity” (obtained using the −nobrief option) is used as the percent identity and is calculated as follows:

(Identical Deoxyribonucleotides×100)/(Length of Alignment−Total Number of Gaps in Alignment)

Homologous sequence: The term “homologous sequence” is defined herein as sequences with an E value (or expectancy score) of less than 0.001 using the blastp (for protein databases) or tblastn (for nucleic acid databases) algorithms with the BLOSUM62 matrix, wordsize 3, gap existence cost 11, gap extension cost 1, no low complexity filtration, and a mature protein sequence as query. See Altschul et al., 1997, Nucleic Acids Res. 25: 3389-3402.

Polypeptide Fragment: The term “polypeptide fragment” is defined herein as a polypeptide having one or more (several) amino acids deleted from the amino and/or carboxyl terminus of the mature polypeptide or a homologous sequence thereof; wherein the fragment has activity as the mature polypeptide thereof.

Subsequence: The term “subsequence” is defined herein as a nucleotide sequence having one or more (several) nucleotides deleted from the 5′ and/or 3′ end of the mature polypeptide coding sequence or a homologous sequence thereof; wherein the subsequence encodes a polypeptide fragment having activity as the mature polypeptide thereof.

Allelic variant: The term “allelic variant” denotes herein any of two or more alternative forms of a gene occupying the same chromosomal locus. Allelic variation arises naturally through mutation, and may result in polymorphism within populations. Gene mutations can be silent (no change in the encoded polypeptide) or may encode polypeptides having altered amino acid sequences. An allelic variant of a polypeptide is a polypeptide encoded by an allelic variant of a gene.

Isolated polynucleotide: The term “isolated polynucleotide” as used herein refers to a polynucleotide that is isolated from a source. In a preferred aspect, the polynucleotide is at least 1% pure, preferably at least 5% pure, more preferably at least 10% pure, more preferably at least 20% pure, more preferably at least 40% pure, more preferably at least 60% pure, even more preferably at least 80% pure, and most preferably at least 90% pure, as determined by agarose electrophoresis.

Substantially pure polynucleotide: The term “substantially pure polynucleotide” as used herein refers to a polynucleotide preparation free of other extraneous or unwanted nucleotides and in a form suitable for use within genetically engineered protein production systems. Thus, a substantially pure polynucleotide contains at most 10%, preferably at most 8%, more preferably at most 6%, more preferably at most 5%, more preferably at most 4%, more preferably at most 3%, even more preferably at most 2%, most preferably at most 1%, and even most preferably at most 0.5% by weight of other polynucleotide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. A substantially pure polynucleotide may, however, include naturally occurring 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions, such as promoters and terminators. It is preferred that the substantially pure polynucleotide is at least 90% pure, preferably at least 92% pure, more preferably at least 94% pure, more preferably at least 95% pure, more preferably at least 96% pure, more preferably at least 97% pure, even more preferably at least 98% pure, most preferably at least 99%, and even most preferably at least 99.5% pure by weight. The polynucleotides of the present invention are preferably in a substantially pure form, i.e., that the polynucleotide preparation is essentially free of other polynucleotide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. The polynucleotides may be of genomic, cDNA, RNA, semisynthetic, synthetic origin, or any combinations thereof.

cDNA: The term “cDNA” is defined herein as a DNA molecule that can be prepared by reverse transcription from a mature, spliced, mRNA molecule obtained from a eukaryotic cell. cDNA lacks intron sequences that are usually present in the corresponding genomic DNA. The initial, primary RNA transcript is a precursor to mRNA that is processed through a series of steps before appearing as mature spliced mRNA. These steps include the removal of intron sequences by a process called splicing. cDNA derived from mRNA lacks, therefore, any intron sequences.

Nucleic acid construct: The term “nucleic acid construct” as used herein refers to a nucleic acid molecule, either single- or double-stranded, which is isolated from a naturally occurring gene or which is modified to contain segments of nucleic acids in a manner that would not otherwise exist in nature or which is synthetic. The term nucleic acid construct is synonymous with the term “expression cassette” when the nucleic acid construct contains the control sequences required for expression of a coding sequence of the present invention.

Control sequence: The term “control sequences” is defined herein to include all components necessary for the expression of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the present invention. Each control sequence may be native or foreign to the nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide or native or foreign to each other. Such control sequences include, but are not limited to, a leader, polyadenylation sequence, propeptide sequence, promoter, signal peptide sequence, and transcription terminator. At a minimum, the control sequences include a promoter, and transcriptional and translational stop signals. The control sequences may be provided with linkers for the purpose of introducing specific restriction sites facilitating ligation of the control sequences with the coding region of the nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide.

Operably linked: The term “operably linked” denotes herein a configuration in which a control sequence is placed at an appropriate position relative to the coding sequence of the polynucleotide sequence such that the control sequence directs the expression of the coding sequence of a polypeptide.

Coding sequence: When used herein the term “coding sequence” means a nucleotide sequence, which directly specifies the amino acid sequence of its protein product. The boundaries of the coding sequence are generally determined by an open reading frame, which usually begins with the ATG start codon or alternative start codons such as GTG and TTG and ends with a stop codon such as TAA, TAG, and TGA. The coding sequence may be a DNA, cDNA, synthetic, or recombinant nucleotide sequence.

Expression: The term “expression” includes any step involved in the production of the polypeptide including, but not limited to, transcription, post-transcriptional modification, translation, post-translational modification, and secretion.

Expression vector: The term “expression vector” is defined herein as a linear or circular DNA molecule that comprises a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of the present invention and is operably linked to additional nucleotides that provide for its expression.

Host cell: The term “host cell”, as used herein, includes any cell type that is susceptible to transformation, transfection, transduction, and the like with a nucleic acid construct or expression vector comprising a polynucleotide.

Modification: The term “modification” means herein any chemical modification of a mature polypeptide or a homologous sequence thereof; as well as genetic manipulation of the DNA encoding such a polypeptide. The modification can be a substitution, a deletion and/or an insertion of one or more (several) amino acids as well as replacements of one or more (several) amino acid side chains.

Artificial variant: When used herein, the term “artificial variant” means a polypeptide produced by an organism expressing a modified nucleotide sequence of a mature polypeptide coding sequence or a homologous sequence thereof. The modified nucleotide sequence is obtained through human intervention by modification of the polynucleotide sequence or a homologous sequence thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods of increasing the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, comprising: adding a soluble activating divalent metal cation to a composition comprising the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

The present invention also relates to methods for degrading or converting a cellulose-containing material, comprising: treating the cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of a cellulolytic enzyme composition comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM.

The present invention also relates to methods for producing a fermentation product, comprising: (a) saccharifying a cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of a cellulolytic enzyme composition comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM; (b) fermenting the saccharified cellulose-containing material of step (a) with one or more fermenting microorganisms to produce the fermentation product; and (c) recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation.

The present invention also relates to compositions comprising a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

The present invention also relates to cellulolytic enzyme compositions comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by the cellulolytic enzyme compositions compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

Divalent Metal Cations

Any soluble activating divalent metal cation can be used in the present invention. In a preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is selected from the group consisting of Mn⁺⁺, Co⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Ca⁺⁺, and a combination thereof. In a more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mn⁺⁺. In another more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Co⁺⁺. In another more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mg⁺⁺. In another more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Ca⁺⁺. In another more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is two or more (several) cations selected from the group consisting of Mn⁺⁺, Co⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, and Ca⁺⁺. In a most preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mn⁺⁺. In another most preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mg⁺⁺.

The soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of preferably about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM, more preferably about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, even more preferably about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM, most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM, and even most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM.

In a preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM. In a even more preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM. In a most preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM. In a even most preferred aspect, the soluble activating divalent metal cation is added during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate at an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM.

The soluble activating divalent metal cation is preferably added as a soluble salt, such as, for example, a sulfate, carbonate, chloride, citrate, nitrate, nitrite, fluoride, or iodide salt. It is well known in the art, however, that cellulosic biomass can comprise a number of divalent metal cations. See, for example, F. B. Salisbury and C. W. Ross: Plant Physiology, Wadsworths Publishing Company, Belmont, Calif. (1992). The cellulosic biomass can, therefore, be used, in part or wholly, as a source of the metal cations. The activating divalent metal cations may be soluble or insoluble. The term “soluble activating divalent metal cation” is defined herein as a divalent metal cation that is available in solution to increase the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. The term “insoluble activating divalent metal cation” is defined herein as a divalent metal cation that is unavailable in solution to increase the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. The divalent metal cation may be unavailable because, for example, it is chelated by, for example, EDTA or EGTA, or it is complexed with a component of the cellulosic biomass, for example, pyrophosphate.

The cellulosic biomass can also supply soluble divalent metal cations that inhibit the cellulolysis (hereinafter “soluble inhibitory divalent metal cation”). For example, an inhibitory divalent metal cation is Zn⁺⁺ or Fe⁺⁺. Consequently, under conditions where a mixture of soluble divalent metal cations are present, some that activate and others that inhibit cellulolysis, an excess of a soluble activating divalent metal cation is added to overcome the inhibitory effect of the inhibitory divalent metal cations. In such a situation to prevent inhibitory divalent metal cations from adversely affecting the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, the methods of the present invention further comprise supplementing the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation to maintain the effective concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation in the range of preferably about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM, more preferably about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, even more preferably about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM, most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM, and even most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM for a period sufficient to degrade or convert the cellulose-containing material.

In a preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM. In a more preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM. In a even more preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM. In a most preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM. In a even most preferred aspect, the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation is supplemented during the degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing substrate to maintain an effective concentration of about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM.

The concentration of divalent metal cations in cellulosic biomass can be determined using any method known in the art, such as atomic absorption, electrochemical electrodes, metal ion biosensors, or optical sensors, or titration by chelation (see, for example, Methods in Enzymology, v. 158 (multiple chapters), Haugland, R. P. Handbook of Fluorescent Probes and Research Chemicals, 6th ed.; Molecular Probes, Inc.: Eugene, Oreg., 1996., Thompson et al. Anal. Chem., 70 (22), 4717-4723, 1998, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, Akbar Montaser (Editor) May 1998).

In the methods of the present invention, a soluble activating divalent metal cation increases the activity of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably at least 0.1-fold, more preferably at least 0.2-fold, more preferably at least 0.3-fold, more preferably at least 0.4-fold, more preferably at least 0.5-fold, more preferably at least 1-fold, more preferably at least 3-fold, more preferably at least 4-fold, more preferably at least 5-fold, more preferably at least 10-fold, more preferably at least 20-fold, even more preferably at least 30-fold, most preferably at least 50-fold, and even most preferably at least 100-fold.

Cellulolytic Enzyme Compositions

The present invention also relates to compositions comprising a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of preferably about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM, more preferably about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, even more preferably about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM, most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM, and even most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by a cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

The present invention also relates to cellulolytic enzyme compositions comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of preferably about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM, more preferably about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM, more preferably about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, even more preferably about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM, most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM, and even most preferably about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM during degradation or conversion of a cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by the cellulolytic enzyme compositions compared to the polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation.

In the methods of the present invention, the cellulolytic enzyme composition may comprise any protein involved in the processing of a cellulose-containing material to glucose, or hemicellulose to xylose, mannose, galactose, and arabinose, their polymers, or products derived from them as described below. In one aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises an endoglucanase, a cellobiohydrolase, a beta-glucosidase, or a combination thereof. In another aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition further comprises one or more additional enzyme activities to improve the degradation of the cellulose-containing material. Preferred additional enzymes are hemicellulases, esterases (e.g., lipases, phospholipases, and/or cutinases), proteases, laccases, peroxidases, or mixtures thereof.

The cellulolytic enzyme composition may be a monocomponent preparation, e.g., an endoglucanase, a multicomponent preparation, e.g., endoglucanase(s), cellobiohydrolase(s), and beta-glucosidase(s), or a combination of multicomponent and monocomponent protein preparations. The cellulolytic proteins may have activity, i.e., hydrolyze the cellulose-containing material, either in the acid, neutral, or alkaline pH-range.

As mentioned above, the cellulolytic proteins used in the present invention may be monocomponent preparations, i.e., a component essentially free of other cellulolytic components. The single component may be a recombinant component, i.e., produced by cloning of a DNA sequence encoding the single component and subsequent cell transformed with the DNA sequence and expressed in a host (see, for example, WO 91/17243 and WO 91/17244). The host cell may be a heterologous host (enzyme is foreign to host) or the host may also be a wild-type host (enzyme is native to host). Monocomponent cellulolytic proteins may also be prepared by purifying such a protein from a fermentation broth.

The enzymes used in the present invention may be in any form suitable for use in the processes described herein, such as, for example, a crude fermentation broth with or without cells, a dry powder or granulate, a non-dusting granulate, a liquid, a stabilized liquid, or a protected enzyme. Granulates may be produced, e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,106,991 and 4,661,452, and may optionally be coated by process known in the art. Liquid enzyme preparations may, for instance, be stabilized by adding stabilizers such as a sugar, a sugar alcohol or another polyol, and/or lactic acid or another organic acid according to established process. Protected enzymes may be prepared according to the process disclosed in EP 238,216.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity may be obtained from microorganisms of any genus. The term “obtained from” means herein that the enzyme may have been isolated from an organism that naturally produces the enzyme as a native enzyme. The term “obtained from” also means herein that the enzyme may have been produced recombinantly in a host organism, wherein the recombinantly produced enzyme is either native or foreign to the host organism or has a modified amino acid sequence, e.g., having one or more amino acids that are deleted, inserted and/or substituted, i.e., a recombinantly produced enzyme that is a mutant and/or a fragment of a native amino acid sequence or an enzyme produced by nucleic acid shuffling processes known in the art. Encompassed within the meaning of a native enzyme are natural variants and within the meaning of a foreign enzyme are variants obtained by chemical or recombinant mutagenesis, such as by site-directed mutagenesis or shuffling. Consequently, chemically modified or protein engineered mutants of cellulolytic proteins may also be used in the present invention. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide obtained from a given source is secreted extracellularly.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity may be a bacterial polypeptide. For example, the polypeptide may be a gram positive bacterial polypeptide such as a Bacillus, Streptococcus, Streptomyces, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Clostridium, Geobacillus, or Oceanobacillus polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity, or a Gram negative bacterial polypeptide such as an E. coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Flavobacterium, Fusobacterium, Ilyobacter, Neisseria, or Ureaplasma polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Bacillus alkalophilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus clausii, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus lautus, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus subtilis, or Bacillus thuringiensis polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Streptococcus equisimilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus uberis, or Streptococcus equi subsp. Zooepidemicus polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Streptomyces achromogenes, Streptomyces avermitilis, Streptomyces coelicolor, Streptomyces griseus, or Streptomyces lividans polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

The polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity may also be a fungal polypeptide, and more preferably a yeast polypeptide such as a Candida, Kluyveromyces, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, or Yarrowia polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity; or more preferably a filamentous fungal polypeptide such as aan Acremonium, Agaricus, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Botryosphaeria, Ceriporiopsis, Chaetomidium, Chrysosporium, Claviceps, Cochliobolus, Coprinopsis, Coptotermes, Corynascus, Cryphonectria, Cryptococcus, Diplodia, Exidia, Filibasidium, Fusarium, Gibberella, Holomastigotoides, Humicola, Irpex, Lentinula, Leptospaeria, Magnaporthe, Melanocarpus, Meripilus, Mucor, Myceliophthora, Neocallimastix, Neurospora, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Phanerochaete, Piromyces, Poitrasia, Pseudoplectania, Pseudotrichonympha, Rhizomucor, Schizophyllum, Scytalidium, Talaromyces, Thermoascus, Thielavia, Tolypocladium, Trichoderma, Trichophaea, Verticillium, Volvariella, or Xylaria polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces diastaticus, Saccharomyces douglasii, Saccharomyces kluyveri, Saccharomyces norbensis, or Saccharomyces oviformis polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is an Acremonium cellulolyticus, Aspergillus aculeatus, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus foetidus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Chrysosporium lucknowense, Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium merdarium, Chrysosporium inops, Chrysosporium pannicola, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Chrysosporium zonatum, Fusarium bactridioides, Fusarium cerealis, Fusarium crookwellense, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminum, Fusarium heterosporum, Fusarium negundi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium reticulatum, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium sarcochroum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium sulphureum, Fusarium torulosum, Fusarium trichothecioides, Fusarium venenatum, Humicola grisea, Humicola insolens, Humicola lanuginosa, Irpex lacteus, Mucor miehei, Myceliophthora thermophila, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium purpurogenum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Thielavia achromatica, Thielavia albomyces, Thielavia albopilosa, Thielavia australeinsis, Thielavia fimeti, Thielavia microspora, Thielavia ovispora, Thielavia peruviana, Thielavia spededonium, Thielavia setosa, Thielavia subthermophila, Thielavia terrestris, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma koningii, Trichodermalongibrachiatum, Trichoderma reesei, Trichoderma viride, or Trichophaea saccata polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity.

In the methods of the present invention, any endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, and/or beta-glucosidase, as well as any other cellulolytic enzyme, can be used.

Examples of bacterial endoglucanases that can be used in the present invention, include, but are not limited to, an Acidothermus cellulolyticus endoglucanase (WO 91/05039; WO 93/15186; U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,944; WO 96/02551; U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,655, WO 00/70031, WO 05/093050); Thermobifida fusca endoglucanase III (WO 05/093050); and Thermobifida fusca endoglucanase V (WO 05/093050).

Examples of fungal endoglucanases that can be used in the present invention, include, but are not limited to, a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (Penttila et al., 1986, Gene 45: 253-263; GenBank™ accession no. M15665); Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (Saloheimo et al., 1988, Gene 63:11-22; GenBank™ accession no. M19373); Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (Okada et al., 1988, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 555-563; GenBank™ accession no. AB003694); Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase IV (Saloheimo et al., 1997, Eur. J. Biochem. 249: 584-591; GenBank™ accession no. Y11113); and Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (Saloheimo et al., 1994, Molecular Microbiology 13: 219-228; GenBank™ accession no. Z33381); Aspergillus aculeatus endoglucanase (Ooi et al., 1990, Nucleic Acids Research 18: 5884); Aspergillis kawachii endoglucanase (Sakamoto et al., 1995, Current Genetics 27: 435-439); Chrysosporium sp. C1 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,086; GenPept accession no. AAQ38150); Corynascus heterothallicus (U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,531; GenPept accession no. AAY00844); Erwinia carotovara endoglucanase (Saarilahti et al., 1990, Gene 90: 9-14); Fusarium oxysporum endoglucanase (GenBank™ accession no. L29381); Humicola grisea var. thermoidea endoglucanase (GenBank™ accession no. AB003107); Melanocarpus albomyces endoglucanase (GenBank™ accession no. MAL515703); Neurospora crassa endoglucanase (GenBank™ accession no. XM_324477); Piromyces equi (Eberhardt et al., 2000, Microbiology 146: 1999-2008; GenPept accession no. CAB92325); Rhizopus oryzae (Moriya et al., 2003, J. Bacteriology 185: 1749-1756; GenBank™ accession nos. AB047927, AB056667, and AB056668); and Thielavia terrestris (WO 2004/053039; EMBL accession no. CQ827970).

Other endoglucanases are disclosed in more than 13 of the Glycosyl Hydrolase families using the classification according to Henrissat B., 1991, A classification of glycosyl hydrolases based on amino-acid sequence similarities, Biochem. J. 280: 309-316, and Henrissat B., and Bairoch A., 1996, Updating the sequence-based classification of glycosyl hydrolases, Biochem. J. 316: 695-696.

In a preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B). In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A). In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A). In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A). In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 endoglucanase. In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL12 endoglucanase. In another preferred aspect, the endoglucanase is a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL45 endoglucanase.

In a more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 74 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 76 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 78 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 80 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 endoglucanase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 82 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL12 endoglucanase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 84 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL45 endoglucanase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 86 or an ortholog or variant thereof.

In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B) is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 73 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A) is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 75 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A) is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 77 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A) is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 79 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 endoglucanase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 81 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Chrysosporium CEL12 endoglucanase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 83 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Chrysosporium CEL45 endoglucanase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 85 or an ortholog or variant thereof.

The Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B) can be obtained according to Penttila et al., 1986, Gene 45: 253-263. The Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A) can be obtained according to Saloheimo et al., 1988, Gene 63:11-22. The Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A) can be obtained according to Okada et al., 1988, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 555-563. The Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A) can be obtained according to Saloheimo et al., 1994, Molecular Microbiology 13: 219-228. The Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 endoglucanase can be obtained according to WO 95/024471. The Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL12 endoglucanase can be obtained according to WO 2001/25468. The Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL45 endoglucanase can be obtained according to WO 2000/20555.

In another preferred aspect, the cellobiohydrolase is a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A). In another preferred aspect, the cellobiohydrolase is a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A). In another preferred aspect, the cellobiohydrolase is a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL7 cellobiohydrolase with a cellulose binding domain. In another preferred aspect, the cellobiohydrolase is a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 cellobiohydrolase without a cellulose binding domain. In another preferred aspect, the cellobiohydrolase is a Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase.

In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 88 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A) is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 90 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL7 cellobiohydrolase with a cellulose binding domain is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 92 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 cellobiohydrolase without a cellulose binding domain is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 94 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 96 or an ortholog or variant thereof.

In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A) cellobiohydrolase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 87 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A) cellobiohydrolase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 89 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL7 cellobiohydrolase with a cellulose binding domain is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 91 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 cellobiohydrolase without a cellulose binding domain is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 93 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 95 or an ortholog or variant thereof.

The Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A) can be obtained according to Shoemaker et al., 1983, Biotechnology (N.Y.) 1: 691-696. The Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A) can be obtained according to Terri et al., 1987, Gene 51: 43-52. The Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL7 cellobiohydrolase with a cellulose binding domain can be obtained according to WO 2001/79507. The Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 cellobiohydrolase without a cellulose binding domain can be obtained according to WO 2003/000941. The Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase can be obtained according to WO 2006/074435.

In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is obtained from Aspergillus oryzae. In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is obtained from Aspergillus fumigatus. In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is obtained from Penicillium brasilianum, e.g., Penicillium brasilianum strain IBT 20888. In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is obtained from Aspergillus niger. In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is obtained from Aspergillus aculeatus.

In a more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 16 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus fumigatus beta-glucosidase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 18 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Penicillium brasilianum beta-glucosidase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 20 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus niger beta-glucosidase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 22 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus aculeatus beta-glucosidase is the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 24 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 15 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus fumigatus beta-glucosidase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Penicillium brasilianum beta-glucosidase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 19 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus niger beta-glucosidase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21 or an ortholog or variant thereof. In another more preferred aspect, the Aspergillus aculeatus beta-glucosidase is encoded by the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23 or an ortholog or variant thereof.

The Aspergillus oryzae polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity can be obtained according to WO 2002/095014. The Aspergillus fumigatus polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity can be obtained according to WO 2005/047499. The Penicillium brasilianum polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity can be obtained according to WO 2007/019442. The Aspergillus niger polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity can be obtained according to Dan et al., 2000, J. Biol. Chem. 275: 4973-4980. The Aspergillus aculeatus polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity can be obtained according to Kawaguchi et al., 1996, Gene 173: 287-288.

In another preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 16 is encoded by a polynucleotide contained in the plasmid which is contained in E. coli DSM 14240. In another preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 18 is encoded by the polynucleotide contained in plasmid pEJG113 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30695. In another preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 20 is encoded by a polynucleotide contained in plasmid pKKAB which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30860.

In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG fusion protein of SEQ ID NO: 26. In another preferred aspect, the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG fusion protein is encoded by the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 25. In another preferred aspect, the beta-glucosidase is the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein of SEQ ID NO: 28. In another preferred aspect, the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein is encoded by the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO: 27.

Examples of other beta-glucosidases that can be used in the present invention, include, but are not limited to, an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase (WO 02/095014; WO 04/099228); Aspergillus aculeatus beta-glucosidase (Kawaguchi et al., 1996, Gene 173: 287-288); Aspergillus avenaceus beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. AY943971); Aspergillus fumigatus beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. XM745234); Aspergillus kawachii beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. AB003470); Aspergillus niger beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ AJ132386); Magnaporthe grisea beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. AY849670); Phanerochaete chrysosporium beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. AB253327); Talaromyces emersonii beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession no. AY072918), and Trichoderma reesei beta-glucosidase (GenBank™ accession nos. U09580, AB003110, AY281374, AY281375, AY281377, AY281378, and AY281379). Variants of beta-glucosidases may also be used such as those described in WO 04/099228.

Other beta-glucosidases are disclosed in more than 13 of the Glycosyl Hydrolase families using the classification according to Henrissat B., 1991, A classification of glycosyl hydrolases based on amino-acid sequence similarities, Biochem. J. 280: 309-316, and Henrissat B., and Bairoch A., 1996, Updating the sequence-based classification of glycosyl hydrolases, Biochem. J. 316: 695-696.

It will be understood that for the aforementioned species the invention encompasses both the perfect and imperfect states, and other taxonomic equivalents, e.g., anamorphs, regardless of the species name by which they are known. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize the identity of appropriate equivalents.

Strains of these species are readily accessible to the public in a number of culture collections, such as the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH (DSM), Centraalbureau Voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), and Agricultural Research Service Patent Culture Collection, Northern Regional Research Center (NRRL).

Furthermore, such polypeptides may be identified and obtained from other sources including microorganisms isolated from nature (e.g., soil, composts, water, etc.) using the above-mentioned probes. Techniques for isolating microorganisms from natural habitats are well known in the art. The polynucleotide may then be obtained by similarly screening a genomic or cDNA library of such a microorganism. Once a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide has been detected with the probe(s), the polynucleotide can be isolated or cloned by utilizing techniques that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989, supra).

Polypeptides having cellulolytic enzyme activity also include fused polypeptides or cleavable fusion polypeptides in which another polypeptide is fused at the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the polypeptide or fragment thereof having cellulolytic enzyme activity. A fused polypeptide is produced by fusing a nucleotide sequence (or a portion thereof) encoding another polypeptide to a nucleotide sequence (or a portion thereof) encoding a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity. Techniques for producing fusion polypeptides are known in the art, and include ligating the coding sequences encoding the polypeptides so that they are in frame and that expression of the fused polypeptide is under control of the same promoter(s) and terminator.

A fusion polypeptide can further comprise a cleavage site. Upon secretion of the fusion protein, the site is cleaved releasing the polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity from the fusion protein. Examples of cleavage sites include, but are not limited to, a Kex2 site that encodes the dipeptide Lys-Arg (Martin et al., 2003, J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 3: 568-76; Svetina et al., 2000, J. Biotechnol. 76: 245-251; Rasmussen-Wilson et al., 1997, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63: 3488-3493; Ward et al., 1995, Biotechnology 13: 498-503; and Contreras et al., 1991, Biotechnology 9: 378-381), an Ile-(Glu or Asp)-Gly-Arg site, which is cleaved by a Factor Xa protease after the arginine residue (Eaton et al., 1986, Biochem. 25: 505-512); a Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys site, which is cleaved by an enterokinase after the lysine (Collins-Racie et al., 1995, Biotechnology 13: 982-987); a His-Tyr-Glu site or His-Tyr-Asp site, which is cleaved by Genenase I (Carter et al., 1989, Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics 6: 240-248); a Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser site, which is cleaved by thrombin after the Arg (Stevens, 2003, Drug Discovery World 4: 35-48); a Glu-Asn-Leu-Tyr-Phe-Gln-Gly site, which is cleaved by TEV protease after the Gln (Stevens, 2003, supra); and a Leu-Glu-Val-Leu-Phe-Gln-Gly-Pro site, which is cleaved by a genetically engineered form of human rhinovirus 3C protease after the Gln (Stevens, 2003, supra).

In a preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises a beta-glucosidase; a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A), a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B).

In another preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises a beta-glucosidase; a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A), a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B), and further comprises one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A), a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A).

In another preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises a beta-glucosidase; a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A), a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B), and further comprises a Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase.

In another preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises a beta-glucosidase; a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A), a Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II (CEL6A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I (CEL7B), and further comprises (1) one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II (CEL5A), a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V (CEL45A), and a Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III (CEL12A), and/or further comprises (2) a Thielavia terrestris cellobiohydrolase.

In another preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises one or more (several) components selected from the group consisting of a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL12 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL45 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL7 polypeptide having cellobiohydrolase activity with a cellulose binding domain, and a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 polypeptide having cellobiohydrolase activity without a cellulose binding domain. In another preferred aspect, the cellulolytic enzyme composition comprises a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL12 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a Chrysosporium lucknowense CEL45 polypeptide having endoglucanase activity, a CEL7 polypeptide having cellobiohydrolase activity with a cellulose binding domain, and a Myceliophthora thermophila CEL7 polypeptide having cellobiohydrolase activity without a cellulose binding domain. In another preferred aspect, the composition above further comprises one or more (several) polypeptides having beta-glucosidase activity.

The cellulolytic enzyme composition can also be a commercial preparation. Examples of commercial cellulolytic enzyme preparations suitable for use in the present invention include, for example, CELLUCLAST™ (available from Novozymes A/S) and NOVOZYM™ 188 (available from Novozymes A/S). Other commercially available preparations that may be used include CELLUZYME™, CEREFLO™ and ULTRAFLO™ (Novozymes A/S), LAMINEX™ and SPEZYME™ CP (Genencor Int.), ROHAMENT™ 7069 W (Röhm GmbH), and FIBREZYME® LDI, FIBREZYME® LBR, or VISCOSTAR® 150 L (Dyadic International, Inc., Jupiter, Fla., USA).

Other cellulolytic proteins that may be useful in the present invention are described in EP 495,257, EP 531,315, EP 531,372, WO 89/09259, WO 94/07998, WO 95/24471, WO 96/11262, WO 96/29397, WO 96/034108, WO 97/14804, WO 98/08940, WO 98/012307, WO 98/13465, WO 98/015619, WO 98/015633, WO 98/028411, WO 99/06574, WO 99/10481, WO 99/025846, WO 99/025847, WO 99/031255, WO 2000/009707, WO 2002/050245, WO 2002/0076792, WO 2002/101078, WO 2003/027306, WO 2003/052054, WO 2003/052055, WO 2003/052056, WO 2003/052057, WO 2003/052118, WO 2004/016760, WO 2004/043980, WO 2004/048592, WO 2005/001065, WO 2005/028636, WO 2005/093050, WO 2005/093073, WO 2006/074005, WO 2006/117432, WO 2007/071818, WO 2007/071820, WO 2008/008070, WO 2008/008793, U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,307, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,046, U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,263, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,593, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,178, U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,254, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,757.

The cellulolytic proteins used in the methods of the present invention may be produced by fermentation of the above-noted microbial strains on a nutrient medium containing suitable carbon and nitrogen sources and inorganic salts, using procedures known in the art (see, e.g., Bennett, J. W. and LaSure, L. (eds.), More Gene Manipulations in Fungi, Academic Press, C A, 1991). Suitable media are available from commercial suppliers or may be prepared according to published compositions (e.g., in catalogues of the American Type Culture Collection). Temperature ranges and other conditions suitable for growth and cellulolytic protein production are known in the art (see, e.g., Bailey, J. E., and Ollis, D. F., Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals, McGraw-Hill Book Company, N Y, 1986).

The fermentation can be any method of cultivation of a cell resulting in the expression or isolation of a cellulolytic protein. Fermentation may, therefore, be understood as comprising shake flask cultivation, or small- or large-scale fermentation (including continuous, batch, fed-batch, or solid state fermentations) in laboratory or industrial fermentors performed in a suitable medium and under conditions allowing the cellulolytic protein to be expressed or isolated. The resulting cellulolytic proteins produced by the methods described above may be recovered from the fermentation medium and purified by conventional procedures as described herein.

Polypeptides Having Cellulolytic Enhancing Activity

In a first aspect, the isolated polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity comprise the following motifs:

(SEQ ID NO: 97 or SEQ ID NO: 98) [ILMV]-P-X(4,5)-G-X-Y-[ILMV]-X-R-X-[EQ]-X(4)- [HNQ] and (SEQ ID NO: 104) [FW]-[TF]-K-[AIV], wherein X is any amino acid, X(4,5) is any amino acid at 4 or 5 contiguous positions, and X(4) is any amino acid at 4 contiguous positions.

The isolated polypeptide comprising the above-noted motifs may further comprise:

(SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100) H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV], (SEQ ID NO: 101) [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV], or (SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100) H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV] and (SEQ ID NO: 101) [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV], wherein X is any amino acid, X(1,2) is any amino acid at 1 position or 2 contiguous positions, X(3) is any amino acid at 3 contiguous positions, and X(2) is any amino acid at 2 contiguous positions. In the above motifs, the accepted IUPAC single letter amino acid abbreviation is employed.

In a preferred aspect, the isolated polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity further comprises H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV] (SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100). In another preferred aspect, the isolated polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity further comprises [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV] (SEQ ID NO: 101). In another preferred aspect, the isolated polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity further comprises H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV] (SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100) and [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV] (SEQ ID NO: 101).

In a second aspect, the isolated polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity comprise the following motif:

(SEQ ID NO: 102 or SEQ ID NO: 103) [ILMV]-P-x(4,5)-G-x-Y-[ILMV]-x-R-x-[EQ]-x(3)-A- [HNQ], wherein x is any amino acid, x(4,5) is any amino acid at 4 or 5 contiguous positions, and x(3) is any amino acid at 3 contiguous positions. In the above motif, the accepted IUPAC single letter amino acid abbreviation is employed.

In a third aspect, the isolated polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity have an amino acid sequence that has a degree of identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14 of preferably at least 60%, more preferably at least 65%, more preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 85%, even more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, and even most preferably at least 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%, which have cellulolytic enhancing activity (hereinafter “homologous polypeptides”). In a preferred aspect, the homologous polypeptides have an amino acid sequence that differs by ten amino acids, preferably by five amino acids, more preferably by four amino acids, even more preferably by three amino acids, most preferably by two amino acids, and even most preferably by one amino acid from the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 326 of SEQ ID NO: 2, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 326 of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 326 of SEQ ID NO: 2 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 326 of SEQ ID NO: 2.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 18 to 240 of SEQ ID NO: 4, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 18 to 240 of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 18 to 240 of SEQ ID NO: 4 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 18 to 240 of SEQ ID NO: 4.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 258 of SEQ ID NO: 6, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 258 of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 258 of SEQ ID NO: 6 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 258 of SEQ ID NO: 6.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 19 to 226 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 19 to 226 of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 19 to 226 of SEQ ID NO: 8 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 19 to 226 of SEQ ID NO: 8.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 304 of SEQ ID NO: 10, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 304 of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 304 of SEQ ID NO: 10 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 304 of SEQ ID NO: 10.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 23 to 250 of SEQ ID NO: 12, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 23 to 250 of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 23 to 250 of SEQ ID NO: 12 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 23 to 250 of SEQ ID NO: 12.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity preferably comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 249 of SEQ ID NO: 14, or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide comprises amino acids 20 to 249 of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 249 of SEQ ID NO: 14 or an allelic variant thereof; or a fragment thereof that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide consists of amino acids 20 to 249 of SEQ ID NO: 14.

Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 contains at least 277 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 287 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 297 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4 contains at least 185 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 195 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 205 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 6 contains at least 200 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 212 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 224 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 contains at least 175 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 185 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 195 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 10 contains at least 240 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 255 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 270 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 12 contains at least 175 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 190 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 205 amino acid residues. Preferably, a fragment of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 14 contains at least 200 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 210 amino acid residues, and most preferably at least 220 amino acid residues.

Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 contains at least 831 nucleotides, more preferably at least 861 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 891 nucleotides. Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 contains at least 555 nucleotides, more preferably at least 585 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 615 nucleotides. Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 contains at least 600 nucleotides, more preferably at least 636 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 672 nucleotides. Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 contains at least 525 nucleotides, more preferably at least 555 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 585 nucleotides. Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 contains at least 720 nucleotides, more preferably at least 765 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 810 nucleotides.

Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11 contains at least 525 nucleotides, more preferably at least 570 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 615 nucleotides. Preferably, a subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13 contains at least 600 nucleotides, more preferably at least 630 nucleotides, and most preferably at least 660 nucleotides.

In a fourth aspect, the isolated polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity are encoded by polynucleotides that hybridize under at least very low stringency conditions, preferably at least low stringency conditions, more preferably at least medium stringency conditions, more preferably at least medium-high stringency conditions, even more preferably at least high stringency conditions, and most preferably at least very high stringency conditions with (i) the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13, (ii) the cDNA sequence contained in the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, or SEQ ID NO: 11, or the genomic DNA sequence comprising the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, or SEQ ID NO: 13, (iii) a subsequence of (i) or (ii), or (iv) a full-length complementary strand of (i), (ii), or (iii) (J. Sambrook, E. F. Fritsch, and T. Maniatus, 1989, supra). A subsequence of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13 contains at least 100 contiguous nucleotides or preferably at least 200 contiguous nucleotides. Moreover, the subsequence may encode a polypeptide fragment that has cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide coding sequence is nucleotides 388 to 1332 of SEQ ID NO: 1, nucleotides 98 to 821 of SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 126 to 978 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 55 to 678 of SEQ ID NO: 7, nucleotides 58 to 912 of SEQ ID NO: 9, nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11, or nucleotides 77 to 766 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

The nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13, or a subsequence thereof; as well as the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14, or a fragment thereof, may be used to design a nucleic acid probe to identify and clone DNA encoding polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity from strains of different genera or species, as described supra.

For purposes of the present invention, hybridization indicates that the nucleotide sequence hybridizes to a labeled nucleic acid probe corresponding to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13, the cDNA sequence contained in the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, or SEQ ID NO: 11, or the genomic DNA sequence comprising the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, or SEQ ID NO: 13, its full-length complementary strand, or a subsequence thereof, under very low to very high stringency conditions, as described supra.

In a preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 388 to 1332 of SEQ ID NO: 1. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 1. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pEJG120 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30699, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pEJG120 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30699.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 98 to 821 of SEQ ID NO: 3. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 4, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 3. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pTter61C which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30813, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61C which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30813.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 126 to 978 of SEQ ID NO: 5. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 6, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 5. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pTter61D which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30812, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61D which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30812.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 55 to 678 of SEQ ID NO: 7. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 7. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pTter61E which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30814, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61E which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30814.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 58 to 912 of SEQ ID NO: 9 In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 10, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 9. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pTter61G which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30811, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61G which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30811.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 12, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 11. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pDZA2-7 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30704, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pDZA2-7 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30704.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is nucleotides 77 to 766 of SEQ ID NO: 13. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is a polynucleotide sequence that encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 14, or a subsequence thereof. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is SEQ ID NO: 13. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the polynucleotide sequence contained in plasmid pTr333 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30878, wherein the polynucleotide sequence thereof encodes a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another preferred aspect, the nucleic acid probe is the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTr333 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30878.

For long probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, very low to very high stringency conditions are as defined herein.

For long probes of at least 100 nucleotides in length, the carrier material is finally washed as defined herein.

For short probes of about 15 nucleotides to about 70 nucleotides in length, stringency conditions are as defined herein.

For short probes of about 15 nucleotides to about 70 nucleotides in length, the carrier material is washed as defined herein.

In a fifth aspect, the polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity are encoded by polynucleotides comprising or consisting of nucleotide sequences that have a degree of identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13 of preferably at least 60%, more preferably at least 65%, more preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 85%, even more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, and even most preferably at least 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%, which encode an active polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In a preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide coding sequence is nucleotides 388 to 1332 of SEQ ID NO: 1, nucleotides 98 to 821 of SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 126 to 978 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 55 to 678 of SEQ ID NO: 7, nucleotides 58 to 912 of SEQ ID NO: 9, nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11, or nucleotides 77 to 766 of SEQ ID NO: 13. See polynucleotide section herein.

In a sixth aspect, the polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity are artificial variants comprising a substitution, deletion, and/or insertion of one or more (or several) amino acids of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14; or a homologous sequence thereof. Methods for preparing such artificial variants are described supra.

The total number of amino acid substitutions, deletions and/or insertions of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14, is 10, preferably 9, more preferably 8, more preferably 7, more preferably at most 6, more preferably 5, more preferably 4, even more preferably 3, most preferably 2, and even most preferably 1.

Sources for Polypeptides Having Cellulolytic Enhancing Activity

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity may be obtained from microorganisms of any genus. In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide obtained from a given source is secreted extracellularly.

A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity may be a bacterial polypeptide. For example, the polypeptide may be a gram positive bacterial polypeptide such as a Bacillus, Streptococcus, Streptomyces, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Clostridium, Geobacillus, or Oceanobacillus polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, or a Gram negative bacterial polypeptide such as an E. coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Flavobacterium, Fusobacterium, Ilyobacter, Neisseria, or Ureaplasma polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Bacillus alkalophilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus clausii, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus lautus, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus subtilis, or Bacillus thuringiensis polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Streptococcus equisimilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus uberis, or Streptococcus equi subsp. Zooepidemicus polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Streptomyces achromogenes, Streptomyces avermitilis, Streptomyces coelicolor, Streptomyces griseus, or Streptomyces lividans polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

The polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity may also be a fungal polypeptide, and more preferably a yeast polypeptide such as a Candida, Kluyveromyces, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, or Yarrowia polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity; or more preferably a filamentous fungal polypeptide such as aan Acremonium, Agaricus, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Botryosphaeria, Ceriporiopsis, Chaetomidium, Chrysosporium, Claviceps, Cochliobolus, Coprinopsis, Coptotermes, Corynascus, Cryphonectria, Cryptococcus, Diplodia, Exidia, Filibasidium, Fusarium, Gibberella, Holomastigotoides, Humicola, Irpex, Lentinula, Leptospaeria, Magnaporthe, Melanocarpus, Meripilus, Mucor, Myceliophthora, Neocallimastix, Neurospora, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Phanerochaete, Piromyces, Poitrasia, Pseudoplectania, Pseudotrichonympha, Rhizomucor, Schizophyllum, Scytalidium, Talaromyces, Thermoascus, Thielavia, Tolypocladium, Trichoderma, Trichophaea, Verticillium, Volvariella, or Xylaria polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In a preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces diastaticus, Saccharomyces douglasii, Saccharomyces kluyveri, Saccharomyces norbensis, or Saccharomyces oviformis polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the polypeptide is an Acremonium cellulolyticus, Aspergillus aculeatus, Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus foetidus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Chrysosporium lucknowense, Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium merdarium, Chrysosporium inops, Chrysosporium pannicola, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Chrysosporium zonatum, Fusarium bactridioides, Fusarium cerealis, Fusarium crookwellense, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminum, Fusarium heterosporum, Fusarium negundi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium reticulatum, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium sarcochroum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium suiphureum, Fusarium torulosum, Fusarium trichothecioides, Fusarium venenatum, Humicola grisea, Humicola insolens, Humicola lanuginosa, Irpex lacteus, Mucor miehei, Myceliophthora thermophila, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium purpurogenum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Thielavia achromatica, Thielavia albomyces, Thielavia albopilosa, Thielavia australeinsis, Thielavia fimeti, Thielavia microspora, Thielavia ovispora, Thielavia peruviana, Thielavia spededonium, Thielavia setosa, Thielavia subthermophila, Thielavia terrestris, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma reesei, Trichoderma viride, or Trichophaea saccata polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In a more preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Thielavia terrestris polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In a most preferred embodiment, the polypeptide is a Thielavia terrestris NRRL 8126 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity, e.g., the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10, or fragments thereof that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another more preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Thermoascus aurantiacus polypeptide, e.g., the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 12.

In another more preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Trichoderma reesei polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. In another most preferred aspect, the polypeptide is a Trichoderma reesei RutC30 (ATCC 56765) polypeptide, having cellulolytic enhancing activity e.g., the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 14, or fragments thereof that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

It will be understood that for the aforementioned species the invention encompasses both the perfect and imperfect states, and other taxonomic equivalents, e.g., anamorphs, regardless of the species name by which they are known. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize the identity of appropriate equivalents.

Strains of these species are readily accessible to the public in a number of culture collections, such as the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH (DSM), Centraalbureau Voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), and Agricultural Research Service Patent Culture Collection, Northern Regional Research Center (NRRL).

Furthermore, such polypeptides may be identified and obtained from other sources including microorganisms isolated from nature (e.g., soil, composts, water, etc.) using the above-mentioned probes, as described herein.

Polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity also include fused polypeptides or cleavable fusion polypeptides in which another polypeptide is fused at the N-terminus or the C-terminus of the polypeptide or fragment thereof having cellulolytic enhancing activity, and can further comprise a cleavage site, as described herein.

For further details on polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity and polynucleotides thereof, see WO 2005/074647, WO 2005/074656, and U.S. Published Application Serial No. 2007/0077630, which are incorporated herein by reference.

Polynucleotides Encoding Polypeptides Having Cellulolytic Enhancing Activity

Polynucleotides comprising nucleotide sequences that encode polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity can be isolated and utilized to practice the methods of the present invention, as described herein.

The polynucleotides comprise nucleotide sequences that have a degree of identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13 of preferably at least 60%, more preferably at least 65%, more preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 85%, even more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95%, and even most preferably at least 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%, which encode a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In a preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 1. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pEJG120 that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30699. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pEJG120 that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30699. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 1 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 1 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 2 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 3. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pTter61C that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30813. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61C that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30813. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 3 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 3 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 4 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 5. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pTter61D that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30812. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61D that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30812. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 5 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 5 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 6 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 7. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pTter61E that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30814. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61E that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30814. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 7 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 7 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 8 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 9. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pTter61G that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30811. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTter61G that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30811. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 9 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 9 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 10 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 11. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pDZA2-7 that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30704. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pDZA2-7 that is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30704. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 11 by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 11 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 12 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of SEQ ID NO: 13. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the sequence contained in plasmid pTr3337 which is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30878. In another preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13. In another more preferred aspect, the nucleotide sequence comprises or consists of the mature polypeptide coding sequence contained in plasmid pTr3337 which is contained in Escherichia coli NRRL B-30878. The present invention also encompasses nucleotide sequences that encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14 or the mature polypeptide thereof, which differ from SEQ ID NO: 13 or the mature polypeptide coding sequence thereof by virtue of the degeneracy of the genetic code. The present invention also relates to subsequences of SEQ ID NO: 13 that encode fragments of SEQ ID NO: 14 that have cellulolytic enhancing activity.

The present invention also relates to mutant polynucleotides comprising at least one mutation in the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13, in which the mutant nucleotide sequence encodes the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14. In a preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide is amino acids 20 to 326 of SEQ ID NO: 2, amino acids 18 to 240 of SEQ ID NO: 4, amino acids 20 to 258 of SEQ ID NO: 6, amino acids 19 to 226 of SEQ ID NO: 8, or amino acids 20 to 304 of SEQ ID NO: 10, amino acids 23 to 250 of SEQ ID NO: 12, or amino acids 20 to 249 of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide coding sequence is nucleotides 388 to 1332 of SEQ ID NO: 1, nucleotides 98 to 821 of SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 126 to 978 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 55 to 678 of SEQ ID NO: 7, nucleotides 58 to 912 of SEQ ID NO: 9, nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11, or nucleotides 77 to 766 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

As described earlier, the techniques used to isolate or clone a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide are known in the art and include isolation from genomic DNA, preparation from cDNA, or a combination thereof.

The polynucleotide may also be a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity that hybridizes under at least very low stringency conditions, preferably at least low stringency conditions, more preferably at least medium stringency conditions, more preferably at least medium-high stringency conditions, even more preferably at least high stringency conditions, and most preferably at least very high stringency conditions with (i) the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13, (ii) the cDNA sequence contained in the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 5, or SEQ ID NO: 11, or the genomic DNA sequence comprising the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, or SEQ ID NO: 13, or (iii) a full-length complementary strand of (i) or (ii); or allelic variants and subsequences thereof (Sambrook et al., 1989, supra), as defined herein. In a preferred aspect, the mature polypeptide coding sequence is nucleotides 388 to 1332 of SEQ ID NO: 1, nucleotides 98 to 821 of SEQ ID NO: 3, nucleotides 126 to 978 of SEQ ID NO: 5, nucleotides 55 to 678 of SEQ ID NO: 7, nucleotides 58 to 912 of SEQ ID NO: 9, nucleotides 67 to 796 of SEQ ID NO: 11, or nucleotides 77 to 766 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

Nucleic Acid Constructs

An isolated polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity or a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity may be manipulated in a variety of ways to provide for expression of the polypeptide by constructing a nucleic acid construct comprising an isolated polynucleotide encoding the polypeptide operably linked to one or more control sequences that direct the expression of the coding sequence in a suitable host cell under conditions compatible with the control sequences. Manipulation of the polynucleotide's sequence prior to its insertion into a vector may be desirable or necessary depending on the expression vector. The techniques for modifying polynucleotide sequences utilizing recombinant DNA methods are well known in the art.

The control sequence may be an appropriate promoter sequence, a nucleotide sequence that is recognized by a host cell for expression of a polynucleotide encoding such a polypeptide. The promoter sequence contains transcriptional control sequences that mediate the expression of the polypeptide. The promoter may be any nucleotide sequence that shows transcriptional activity in the host cell of choice including mutant, truncated, and hybrid promoters, and may be obtained from genes encoding extracellular or intracellular polypeptides either homologous or heterologous to the host cell.

Examples of suitable promoters for directing the transcription of the nucleic acid constructs, especially in a bacterial host cell, are the promoters obtained from the E. coli lac operon, Streptomyces coelicolor agarase gene (dagA), Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene (sacB), Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase gene (amyL), Bacillus stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase gene (amyM), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase gene (amyQ), Bacillus licheniformis penicillinase gene (penP), Bacillus subtilis xylA and xylB genes, and prokaryotic beta-lactamase gene (Villa-Kamaroff et al., 1978, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 75: 3727-3731), as well as the tac promoter (DeBoer et al., 1983, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 80: 21-25). Further promoters are described in “Useful proteins from recombinant bacteria” in Scientific American, 1980, 242: 74-94; and in Sambrook et al., 1989, supra.

Examples of suitable promoters for directing the transcription of the nucleic acid constructs in a filamentous fungal host cell are promoters obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase, Aspergillus niger neutral alpha-amylase, Aspergillus niger acid stable alpha-amylase, Aspergillus niger or Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase (glaA), Rhizomucor miehei lipase, Aspergillus oryzae alkaline protease, Aspergillus oryzae triose phosphate isomerase, Aspergillus nidulans acetamidase, Fusarium venenatum amyloglucosidase (WO 00/56900), Fusarium venenatum Dania (WO 00/56900), Fusarium venenatum Quinn (WO 00/56900), Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease (WO 96/00787), Trichoderma reesei beta-glucosidase, Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I, Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase II, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase I, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase II, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase III, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase IV, Trichoderma reesei endoglucanase V, Trichoderma reesei xylanase I, Trichoderma reesei xylanase II, Trichoderma reesei beta-xylosidase, as well as the NA2-tpi promoter (a hybrid of the promoters from the genes for Aspergillus niger neutral alpha-amylase and Aspergillus oryzae triose phosphate isomerase); and mutant, truncated, and hybrid promoters thereof.

In a yeast host, useful promoters are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase (ENO-1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae galactokinase (GAL1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (ADH1,ADH2/GAP), Saccharomyces cerevisiae triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), Saccharomyces cerevisiae metallothionein (CUP1), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 3-phosphoglycerate kinase. Other useful promoters for yeast host cells are described by Romanos et al., 1992, Yeast 8: 423-488.

The control sequence may also be a suitable transcription terminator sequence, a sequence recognized by a host cell to terminate transcription. The terminator sequence is operably linked to the 3′ terminus of the nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide. Any terminator that is functional in the host cell of choice may be used in the present invention.

Preferred terminators for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Aspergillus nidulans anthranilate synthase, Aspergillus niger alpha-glucosidase, and Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease.

Preferred terminators for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome C (CYC1), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Other useful terminators for yeast host cells are described by Romanos et al., 1992, supra.

The control sequence may also be a suitable leader sequence, a nontranslated region of an mRNA that is important for translation by the host cell. The leader sequence is operably linked to the 5′ terminus of the nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide. Any leader sequence that is functional in the host cell of choice may be used in the present invention.

Preferred leaders for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase and Aspergillus nidulans triose phosphate isomerase.

Suitable leaders for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae enolase (ENO-1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae 3-phosphoglycerate kinase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (ADH2/GAP).

The control sequence may also be a polyadenylation sequence, a sequence operably linked to the 3′ terminus of the nucleotide sequence and, when transcribed, is recognized by the host cell as a signal to add polyadenosine residues to transcribed mRNA. Any polyadenylation sequence that is functional in the host cell of choice may be used in the present invention.

Preferred polyadenylation sequences for filamentous fungal host cells are obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Aspergillus nidulans anthranilate synthase, Fusarium oxysporum trypsin-like protease, and Aspergillus niger alpha-glucosidase.

Useful polyadenylation sequences for yeast host cells are described by Guo and Sherman, 1995, Molecular Cellular Biology 15: 5983-5990.

The control sequence may also be a signal peptide coding sequence that codes for an amino acid sequence linked to the amino terminus of a polypeptide and directs the encoded polypeptide into the cell's secretory pathway. The 5′ end of the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence may inherently contain a signal peptide coding sequence naturally linked in translation reading frame with the segment of the coding region that encodes the secreted polypeptide. Alternatively, the 5′ end of the coding sequence may contain a signal peptide coding sequence that is foreign to the coding sequence. The foreign signal peptide coding sequence may be required where the coding sequence does not naturally contain a signal peptide coding sequence. Alternatively, the foreign signal peptide coding sequence may simply replace the natural signal peptide coding sequence in order to enhance secretion of the polypeptide. However, any signal peptide coding sequence that directs the expressed polypeptide into the secretory pathway of a host cell of choice, i.e., secreted into a culture medium, may be used in the present invention.

Effective signal peptide coding sequences for bacterial host cells are the signal peptide coding sequences obtained from the genes for Bacillus NCIB 11837 maltogenic amylase, Bacillus stearothermophilus alpha-amylase, Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin, Bacillus licheniformis beta-lactamase, Bacillus stearothermophilus neutral proteases (nprT, nprS, nprM), and Bacillus subtilis prsA. Further signal peptides are described by Simonen and Palva, 1993, Microbiological Reviews 57: 109-137.

Effective signal peptide coding sequences for filamentous fungal host cells are the signal peptide coding sequences obtained from the genes for Aspergillus oryzae TAKA amylase, Aspergillus niger neutral amylase, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase, Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase, Humicola insolens cellulase, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V, and Humicola lanuginosa lipase.

In a preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 2. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 330 to 387 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 17 of SEQ ID NO: 4. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 47 to 97 of SEQ ID NO: 3.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids coding region is amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 6. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 69 to 125 of SEQ ID NO: 5.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 18 of SEQ ID NO: 8. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 1 to 54 of SEQ ID NO: 7.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 10. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 1 to 57 of SEQ ID NO: 9.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 22 of SEQ ID NO: 12. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 1 to 66 of SEQ ID NO: 11.

In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide comprises or consists of amino acids 1 to 19 of SEQ ID NO: 14. In another preferred aspect, the signal peptide coding region comprises or consists of nucleotides 20 to 76 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

Useful signal peptides for yeast host cells are obtained from the genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor and Saccharomyces cerevisiae invertase. Other useful signal peptide coding sequences are described by Romanos et al., 1992, supra.

The control sequence may also be a propeptide coding sequence that codes for an amino acid sequence positioned at the amino terminus of a polypeptide. The resultant polypeptide is known as a proenzyme or propolypeptide (or a zymogen in some cases). A propolypeptide is generally inactive and can be converted to a mature active polypeptide by catalytic or autocatalytic cleavage of the propeptide from the propolypeptide. The propeptide coding sequence may be obtained from the genes for Bacillus subtilis alkaline protease (aprE), Bacillus subtilis neutral protease (nprT), Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor, Rhizomucor miehei aspartic proteinase, and Myceliophthora thermophila laccase (WO 95/33836).

Where both signal peptide and propeptide sequences are present at the amino terminus of a polypeptide, the propeptide sequence is positioned next to the amino terminus of a polypeptide and the signal peptide sequence is positioned next to the amino terminus of the propeptide sequence.

It may also be desirable to add regulatory sequences that allow the regulation of the expression of the polypeptide relative to the growth of the host cell. Examples of regulatory systems are those that cause the expression of the gene to be turned on or off in response to a chemical or physical stimulus, including the presence of a regulatory compound. Regulatory systems in prokaryotic systems include the lac, tac, and trp operator systems. In yeast, the ADH2 system or GAL1 system may be used. In filamentous fungi, the TAKA alpha-amylase promoter, Aspergillus niger glucoamylase promoter, and Aspergillus oryzae glucoamylase promoter may be used as regulatory sequences. Other examples of regulatory sequences are those that allow for gene amplification. In eukaryotic systems, these regulatory sequences include the dihydrofolate reductase gene that is amplified in the presence of methotrexate, and the metallothionein genes that are amplified with heavy metals. In these cases, the nucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide would be operably linked with the regulatory sequence.

Expression Vectors

The various nucleic acids and control sequences described herein may be joined together to produce a recombinant expression vector comprising a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity or a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity, a promoter, and transcriptional and translational stop signals. The expression vectors may include one or more convenient restriction sites to allow for insertion or substitution of the polynucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide at such sites. Alternatively, a polynucleotide encoding such a polypeptide may be expressed by inserting the polynucleotide sequence or a nucleic acid construct comprising the sequence into an appropriate vector for expression. In creating the expression vector, the coding sequence is located in the vector so that the coding sequence is operably linked with the appropriate control sequences for expression.

The recombinant expression vector may be any vector (e.g., a plasmid or virus) that can be conveniently subjected to recombinant DNA procedures and can bring about expression of the polynucleotide sequence. The choice of the vector will typically depend on the compatibility of the vector with the host cell into which the vector is to be introduced. The vectors may be linear or closed circular plasmids.

The vector may be an autonomously replicating vector, i.e., a vector that exists as an extrachromosomal entity, the replication of which is independent of chromosomal replication, e.g., a plasmid, an extrachromosomal element, a minichromosome, or an artificial chromosome. The vector may contain any means for assuring self-replication. Alternatively, the vector may be one that, when introduced into the host cell, is integrated into the genome and replicated together with the chromosome(s) into which it has been integrated. Furthermore, a single vector or plasmid or two or more vectors or plasmids that together contain the total DNA to be introduced into the genome of the host cell, or a transposon, may be used.

The vectors preferably contain one or more selectable markers that permit easy selection of transformed, transfected, transduced, or the like cells. A selectable marker is a gene the product of which provides for biocide or viral resistance, resistance to heavy metals, prototrophy to auxotrophs, and the like.

Examples of bacterial selectable markers are the dal genes from Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus licheniformis, or markers that confer antibiotic resistance such as ampicillin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, or tetracycline resistance. Suitable markers for yeast host cells are ADE2, HIS3, LEU2, LYS2, MET3, TRP1, and URA3. Selectable markers for use in a filamentous fungal host cell include, but are not limited to, amdS (acetamidase), argB (ornithine carbamoyltransferase), bar (phosphinothricin acetyltransferase), hph (hygromycin phosphotransferase), niaD (nitrate reductase), pyrG (orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase), sC (sulfate adenyltransferase), and trpC (anthranilate synthase), as well as equivalents thereof. Preferred for use in an Aspergillus cell are the amdS and pyrG genes of Aspergillus nidulans or Aspergillus oryzae and the bar gene of Streptomyces hygroscopicus.

The vectors preferably contain an element(s) that permits integration of the vector into the host cell's genome or autonomous replication of the vector in the cell independent of the genome.

For integration into the host cell genome, the vector may rely on the polynucleotide's sequence encoding the polypeptide or any other element of the vector for integration into the genome by homologous or nonhomologous recombination. Alternatively, the vector may contain additional nucleotide sequences for directing integration by homologous recombination into the genome of the host cell at a precise location(s) in the chromosome(s). To increase the likelihood of integration at a precise location, the integrational elements should preferably contain a sufficient number of nucleic acids, such as 100 to 10,000 base pairs, preferably 400 to 10,000 base pairs, and most preferably 800 to 10,000 base pairs, which have a high degree of identity to the corresponding target sequence to enhance the probability of homologous recombination. The integrational elements may be any sequence that is homologous with the target sequence in the genome of the host cell. Furthermore, the integrational elements may be non-encoding or encoding nucleotide sequences. On the other hand, the vector may be integrated into the genome of the host cell by nonhomologous recombination.

For autonomous replication, the vector may further comprise an origin of replication enabling the vector to replicate autonomously in the host cell in question. The origin of replication may be any plasmid replicator mediating autonomous replication that functions in a cell. The term “origin of replication” or “plasmid replicator” is defined herein as a nucleotide sequence that enables a plasmid or vector to replicate in vivo.

Examples of bacterial origins of replication are the origins of replication of plasmids pBR322, pUC19, pACYC177, and pACYC184 permitting replication in E. coli, and pUB110, pE194, pTA1060, and pAMβ1 permitting replication in Bacillus.

Examples of origins of replication for use in a yeast host cell are the 2 micron origin of replication, ARS1, ARS4, the combination of ARS1 and CEN3, and the combination of ARS4 and CEN6.

Examples of origins of replication useful in a filamentous fungal cell are AMA1 and ANSI (Gems et al., 1991, Gene 98: 61-67; Cullen et al., 1987, Nucleic Acids Research 15: 9163-9175; WO 00/24883). Isolation of the AMA1 gene and construction of plasmids or vectors comprising the gene can be accomplished according to the methods disclosed in WO 00/24883.

More than one copy of a polynucleotide encoding such a polypeptide may be inserted into the host cell to increase production of the polypeptide. An increase in the copy number of the polynucleotide can be obtained by integrating at least one additional copy of the sequence into the host cell genome or by including an amplifiable selectable marker gene with the polynucleotide where cells containing amplified copies of the selectable marker gene, and thereby additional copies of the polynucleotide, can be selected for by cultivating the cells in the presence of the appropriate selectable agent.

The procedures used to ligate the elements described above to construct the recombinant expression vectors are well known to one skilled in the art (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989, supra).

Host Cells

Recombinant host cells comprising a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity or a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity can be advantageously used in the recombinant production of the polypeptide. A vector comprising such a polynucleotide is introduced into a host cell so that the vector is maintained as a chromosomal integrant or as a self-replicating extra-chromosomal vector as described earlier. The term “host cell” encompasses any progeny of a parent cell that is not identical to the parent cell due to mutations that occur during replication. The choice of a host cell will to a large extent depend upon the gene encoding the polypeptide and its source.

The host cell may be a unicellular microorganism, e.g., a prokaryote, or a non-unicellular microorganism, e.g., a eukaryote.

The bacterial host cell may be any Gram positive bacterium or a Gram negative bacterium. Gram positive bacteria include, but not limited to, Bacillus, Streptococcus, Streptomyces, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Clostridium, Geobacillus, and Oceanobacillus. Gram negative bacteria include, but not limited to, E. coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Flavobacterium, Fusobacterium, Ilyobacter, Neisseria, and Ureaplasma.

The bacterial host cell may be any Bacillus cell. Bacillus cells useful in the practice of the present invention include, but are not limited to, Bacillus alkalophilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus circulans, Bacillus clausii, Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus lautus, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus thuringiensis cells.

In a preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus stearothermophilus or Bacillus subtilis cell. In a more preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens cell. In another more preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Bacillus clausii cell. In another more preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Bacillus licheniformis cell. In another more preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Bacillus subtilis cell.

The bacterial host cell may also be any Streptococcus cell. Streptococcus cells useful in the practice of the present invention include, but are not limited to, Streptococcus equisimilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus uberis, and Streptococcus equi subsp. Zooepidemicus cells.

In a preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptococcus equisimilis cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptococcus pyogenes cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptococcus uberis cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptococcus equi subsp. Zooepidemicus cell.

The bacterial host cell may also be any Streptomyces cell. Streptomyces cells useful in the practice of the present invention include, but are not limited to, Streptomyces achromogenes, Streptomyces avermitilis, Streptomyces coelicolor, Streptomyces griseus, and Streptomyces lividans cells.

In a preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptomyces achromogenes cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptomyces avermitilis cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptomyces coelicolor cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptomyces griseus cell. In another preferred aspect, the bacterial host cell is a Streptomyces lividans cell.

The introduction of DNA into a Bacillus cell may, for instance, be effected by protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Chang and Cohen, 1979, Molecular General Genetics 168: 111-115), by using competent cells (see, e.g., Young and Spizizen, 1961, Journal of Bacteriology 81: 823-829, or Dubnau and Davidoff-Abelson, 1971, Journal of Molecular Biology 56: 209-221), by electroporation (see, e.g., Shigekawa and Dower, 1988, Biotechniques 6: 742-751), or by conjugation (see, e.g., Koehler and Thorne, 1987, Journal of Bacteriology 169: 5271-5278). The introduction of DNA into an E coli cell may, for instance, be effected by protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Hanahan, 1983, J. Mol. Biol. 166: 557-580) or electroporation (see, e.g., Dower et al., 1988, Nucleic Acids Res. 16: 6127-6145). The introduction of DNA into a Streptomyces cell may, for instance, be effected by protoplast transformation and electroporation (see, e.g., Gong et al., 2004, Folia Microbiol. (Praha) 49: 399-405), by conjugation (see, e.g., Mazodier et al., 1989, J. Bacteriol. 171: 3583-3585), or by transduction (see, e.g., Burke et al., 2001, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 6289-6294). The introduction of DNA into a Pseudomonas cell may, for instance, be effected by electroporation (see, e.g., Choi et al., 2006, J. Microbiol. Methods 64: 391-397) or by conjugation (see, e.g., Pinedo and Smets, 2005, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 51-57). The introduction of DNA into a Streptococcus cell may, for instance, be effected by natural competence (see, e.g., Perry and Kuramitsu, 1981, Infect. Immun. 32: 1295-1297), by protoplast transformation (see, e.g., Catt and Jollick, 1991, Microbios. 68: 189-2070, by electroporation (see, e.g., Buckley et al., 1999, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 3800-3804) or by conjugation (see, e.g., Clewell, 1981, Microbiol. Rev. 45: 409-436). However, any method known in the art for introducing DNA into a host cell can be used.

The host cell may also be a eukaryote, such as a mammalian, insect, plant, or fungal cell.

In a preferred aspect, the host cell is a fungal cell. “Fungi” as used herein includes the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota (as defined by Hawksworth et al., In, Ainsworth and Bisby's Dictionary of The Fungi, 8th edition, 1995, CAB International, University Press, Cambridge, UK) as well as the Oomycota (as cited in Hawksworth et al., 1995, supra, page 171) and all mitosporic fungi (Hawksworth et al., 1995, supra).

In a more preferred aspect, the fungal host cell is a yeast cell. “Yeast” as used herein includes ascosporogenous yeast (Endomycetales), basidiosporogenous yeast, and yeast belonging to the Fungi Imperfecti (Blastomycetes). Since the classification of yeast may change in the future, for the purposes of this invention, yeast shall be defined as described in Biology and Activities of Yeast (Skinner, F. A., Passmore, S. M., and Davenport, R. R., eds, Soc. App. Bacteriol. Symposium Series No. 9, 1980).

In an even more preferred aspect, the yeast host cell is a Candida, Hansenula, Kluyveromyces, Pichia, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, or Yarrowia cell.

In a most preferred aspect, the yeast host cell is a Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces diastaticus, Saccharomyces douglasii, Saccharomyces kluyveri, Saccharomyces norbensis, or Saccharomyces oviformis cell. In another most preferred aspect, the yeast host cell is a Kluyveromyces lactis cell. In another most preferred aspect, the yeast host cell is a Yarrowia lipolytica cell.

In another more preferred aspect, the fungal host cell is a filamentous fungal cell. “Filamentous fungi” include all filamentous forms of the subdivision Eumycota and Oomycota (as defined by Hawksworth et al., 1995, supra). The filamentous fungi are generally characterized by a mycelial wall composed of chitin, cellulose, glucan, chitosan, mannan, and other complex polysaccharides. Vegetative growth is by hyphal elongation and carbon catabolism is obligately aerobic. In contrast, vegetative growth by yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is by budding of a unicellular thallus and carbon catabolism may be fermentative.

In an even more preferred aspect, the filamentous fungal host cell is an Acremonium, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Bjerkandera, Ceriporiopsis, Chrysosporium, Coprinus, Coriolus, Cryptococcus, Filibasidium, Fusarium, Humicola, Magnaporthe, Mucor, Myceliophthora, Neocallimastix, Neurospora, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Phanerochaete, Phiebia, Piromyces, Pleurotus, Schizophyllum, Talaromyces, Thermoascus, Thielavia, Tolypocladium, Trametes, or Trichoderma cell.

In a most preferred aspect, the filamentous fungal host cell is an Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus foetidus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus niger or Aspergillus oryzae cell. In another most preferred aspect, the filamentous fungal host cell is a Fusarium bactridioides, Fusarium cerealis, Fusarium crookwellense, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminum, Fusarium heterosporum, Fusarium negundi, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium reticulatum, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium sambucinum, Fusarium sarcochroum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium suiphureum, Fusarium torulosum, Fusarium trichothecioides, or Fusarium venenatum cell. In another most preferred aspect, the filamentous fungal host cell is a Bjerkandera adusta, Ceriporiopsis aneirina, Ceriporiopsis aneirina, Ceriporiopsis caregiea, Ceriporiopsis gilvescens, Ceriporiopsis pannocinta, Ceriporiopsis rivulosa, Ceriporiopsis subrufa, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, Chrysosporium lucknowense, Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium merdarium, Chrysosporium inops, Chrysosporium pannicola, Chrysosporium queenslandicum, Chrysosporium zonatum, Coprinus cinereus, Coriolus hirsutus, Humicola insolens, Humicola lanuginosa, Mucor miehei, Myceliophthora thermophila, Neurospora crassa, Penicillium purpurogenum, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Phlebia radiata, Pleurotus eryngii, Thielavia terrestris, Trametes villosa, Trametes versicolor, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Trichoderma reesei, or Trichoderma viride cell.

Fungal cells may be transformed by a process involving protoplast formation, transformation of the protoplasts, and regeneration of the cell wall in a manner known per se. Suitable procedures for transformation of Aspergillus and Trichoderma host cells are described in EP 238 023 and Yelton et al., 1984, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 81: 1470-1474. Suitable methods for transforming Fusarium species are described by Malardier et al., 1989, Gene 78: 147-156, and WO 96/00787. Yeast may be transformed using the procedures described by Becker and Guarente, In Abelson, J. N. and Simon, M. I., editors, Guide to Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, Methods in Enzymology, Volume 194, pp 182-187, Academic Press, Inc., New York; Ito et al., 1983, Journal of Bacteriology 153: 163; and Hinnen et al., 1978, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 75: 1920.

Methods of Production

Methods for producing a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity or a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity, comprise (a) cultivating a cell, which in its wild-type form is capable of producing the polypeptide, under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide.

Alternatively, methods for producing a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity or a polypeptide having cellulolytic enzyme activity, comprise (a) cultivating a recombinant host cell under conditions conducive for production of the polypeptide; and (b) recovering the polypeptide.

In the production methods, the cells are cultivated in a nutrient medium suitable for production of the polypeptide using methods well known in the art. For example, the cell may be cultivated by shake flask cultivation, and small-scale or large-scale fermentation (including continuous, batch, fed-batch, or solid state fermentations) in laboratory or industrial fermentors performed in a suitable medium and under conditions allowing the polypeptide to be expressed and/or isolated. The cultivation takes place in a suitable nutrient medium comprising carbon and nitrogen sources and inorganic salts, using procedures known in the art. Suitable media are available from commercial suppliers or may be prepared according to published compositions (e.g., in catalogues of the American Type Culture Collection). If the polypeptide is secreted into the nutrient medium, the polypeptide can be recovered directly from the medium. If the polypeptide is not secreted into the medium, it can be recovered from cell lysates.

The polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity or cellulolytic enzyme activity are detected using the methods described herein.

The resulting broth may be used as is or the polypeptide may be recovered using methods known in the art. For example, the polypeptide may be recovered from the nutrient medium by conventional procedures including, but not limited to, centrifugation, filtration, extraction, spray-drying, evaporation, or precipitation.

The polypeptides may be purified by a variety of procedures known in the art including, but not limited to, chromatography (e.g., ion exchange, affinity, hydrophobic, chromatofocusing, and size exclusion), electrophoretic procedures (e.g., preparative isoelectric focusing), differential solubility (e.g., ammonium sulfate precipitation), SDS-PAGE, or extraction (see, e.g., Protein Purification, J.-C. Janson and Lars Ryden, editors, VCH Publishers, New York, 1989) to obtain substantially pure polypeptides.

Methods for Processing Cellulose-Containing Material

The compositions and methods of the present invention can be used to hydrolyze (saccharify) a cellulose-containing material, e.g., lignocellulose, to fermentable sugars and convert the fermentable sugars to many useful substances, e.g., chemicals and fuels. The production of a desired fermentation product from cellulose-containing material typically involves pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis (saccharification), and fermentation.

The processing of cellulose-containing material according to the present invention can be accomplished using processes known in the art. Moreover, the methods of the present invention can be implemented using any biomass processing apparatus configured to operate in accordance with the invention.

Hydrolysis (saccharification) and fermentation, separate or simultaneous, include, but are not limited to, separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF), hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation (HHF), SHCF (separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation), HHCF (hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation), and direct microbial conversion (DMC). It is understood herein that any method known in the art comprising pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis (saccharification), fermentation, or a combination thereof, can be used in the practicing the methods of the present invention.

A conventional apparatus can include a fed-batch stirred reactor, a batch stirred reactor, a continuous flow stirred reactor with ultrafiltration, and/or a continuous plug-flow column reactor (Fernanda de Castilhos Corazza, Flávio Faria de Moraes, Gisella Maria Zanin and Ivo Neitzel, 2003, Optimal control in fed-batch reactor for the cellobiose hydrolysis, Acta Scientiarum. Technology 25: 33-38; Gusakov, A. V., and Sinitsyn, A. P., 1985, Kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose: 1. A mathematical model for a batch reactor process, Enz. Microb. Technol. 7: 346-352), an attrition reactor (Ryu, S. K., and Lee, J. M., 1983, Bioconversion of waste cellulose by using an attrition bioreactor, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 25: 53-65), or a reactor with intensive stirring induced by an electromagnetic field (Gusakov, A. V., Sinitsyn, A. P., Davydkin, I. Y., Davydkin, V. Y., Protas, 0. V., 1996, Enhancement of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis using a novel type of bioreactor with intensive stirring induced by electromagnetic field, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 56: 141-153). Additional reactor types include, for example, fluidized bed, upflow blanket, immobilized, and extruder type reactors for hydrolysis and/or fermentation.

Pretreatment.

In practicing the methods of the present invention, any pretreatment process known in the art can be used to disrupt the plant cell wall components of the cellulose-containing material. The cellulose-containing material can also be subjected to pre-soaking, wetting, or conditioning prior to pretreatment using methods known in the art. Conventional pretreatments include, but are not limited to, steam pretreatment (with or without explosion), dilute acid pretreatment, hot water pretreatment, lime pretreatment, wet oxidation, wet explosion, ammonia fiber explosion, organosolv pretreatment, and biological pretreatment. Additional pretreatments include ultrasound, electroporation, microwave, supercritical CO₂, supercritical H₂O, and ammonia percolation.

The cellulose-containing material can be pretreated before hydrolysis and/or fermentation. Pretreatment is preferably performed prior to the hydrolysis. Alternatively, the pretreatment can be carried out simultaneously with hydrolysis, such as simultaneously with treatment of the cellulose-containing material with one or more cellulolytic enzymes, or other enzyme activities, to release fermentable sugars, such as glucose and/or maltose. In most cases the pretreatment step itself results in some conversion of biomass to fermentable sugars (even in absence of enzymes).

Steam Pretreatment. In steam pretreatment, the cellulose-containing material is heated to disrupt the plant cell wall components, including lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose to make the cellulose and other fractions, e.g., hemicellulase, accessible to enzymes. The cellulose material is passed to or through a reaction vessel where steam is injected to increase the temperature to the required temperature and pressure and is retained therein for the desired reaction time. Steam pretreatment is preferably done at 140-230° C., more preferably at 160-200° C., and most preferably at 170-190° C., where the optimal temperature range depends on addition of a chemical catalyst. Residence time for the steam pretreatment is preferably 1-15 minutes, more preferably 3-12 minutes, and most preferably 4-10 minutes, where the optimal residence time depends on the temperature range and addition of a chemical catalyst. Steam pretreatment allows for relatively high solids loadings, so that the cellulose-containing material is generally only moist during the pretreatment. The steam pretreatment is often combined with an explosive discharge of the material after the pretreatment, which is known as steam explosion, that is, rapid flashing to atmospheric pressure and turbulent flow of the material to increase the accessible surface area by fragmentation (Duff and Murray, 1996, Bioresource Technology 855: 1-33; Galbe and Zacchi, 2002, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 59: 618-628; U.S. Patent Application No. 20020164730).

A catalyst such as H₂SO₄ or SO₂ (typically 0.3 to 3% w/w) is often added prior to steam pretreatment, which decreases the time and temperature, increases recovery, and improves enzymatic hydrolysis (Ballesteros et al., 2006, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 129-132: 496-508; Varga et al., 2004, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 113-116: 509-523; Sassner et al., 2006, Enzyme Microb. Technol. 39: 756-762).

Chemical Pretreatment: The term “chemical treatment” refers to any chemical pretreatment that promotes the separation and/or release of cellulose, hemicellulose, and/or lignin. Examples of suitable chemical pretreatment processes include, for example, dilute acid pretreatment, lime pretreatment, wet oxidation, ammonia fiber/freeze explosion (AFEX), ammonia percolation (APR), and organosolv pretreatments.

In dilute acid pretreatment, the cellulose-containing material is mixed with dilute acid, typically H₂SO₄, and water to form a slurry, heated by steam to the desired temperature, and after a residence time flashed to atmospheric pressure. The dilute acid pretreatment can be performed with a number of reactor designs, e.g., plug-flow reactors, counter-current reactors, or continuous counter-current shrinking bed reactors (Duff and Murray, 1996, supra; Schell et al., 2004, Bioresource Technol. 91: 179-188; Lee et al., 1999, Adv. Biochem. Eng. Biotechnol. 65: 93-115).

Several methods of pretreatment under alkaline conditions can also be used. These alkaline pretreatments include, but are not limited to, lime pretreatment, wet oxidation, ammonia percolation (APR), and ammonia fiber/freeze explosion (AFEX).

Lime pretreatment is performed with calcium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, or ammonia at low temperatures of 85-150° C. and residence times from 1 hour to several days (Wyman et al., 2005, Bioresource Technol. 96: 1959-1966; Mosier et al., 2005, Bioresource Technol. 96: 673-686). WO 2006/110891, WO 2006/11899, WO 2006/11900, and WO 2006/110901 disclose pretreatment methods using ammonia.

Wet oxidation is a thermal pretreatment performed typically at 180-200° C. for 5-15 minutes with addition of an oxidative agent such as hydrogen peroxide or over-pressure of oxygen (Schmidt and Thomsen, 1998, Bioresource Technol. 64: 139-151; Palonen et al., 2004, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 117: 1-17; Varga et al., 2004, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 88: 567-574; Martin et al., 2006, J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 81: 1669-1677). The pretreatment is performed at preferably 1-40% dry matter, more preferably 2-30% dry matter, and most preferably 5-20% dry matter, and often the initial pH is increased by the addition of alkali such as sodium carbonate.

A modification of the wet oxidation pretreatment method, known as wet explosion (combination of wet oxidation and steam explosion), can handle dry matter up to 30%. In wet explosion, the oxidizing agent is introduced during pretreatment after a certain residence time. The pretreatment is then ended by flashing to atmospheric pressure (WO 2006/032282).

Ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) involves treating cellulose-containing material with liquid or gaseous ammonia at moderate temperatures such as 90-100° C. and high pressure such as 17-20 bar for 5-10 minutes, where the dry matter content can be as high as 60% (Gollapalli et al., 2002, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 98: 23-35; Chundawat et al., 2007, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 96: 219-231; Alizadeh et al., 2005, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 121:1133-1141; Teymouri et al., 2005, Bioresource Technol. 96: 2014-2018).

Organosolv pretreatment delignifies cellulose-containing material by extraction using aqueous ethanol (40-60% ethanol) at 160-200° C. for 30-60 minutes (Pan et al., 2005, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 90: 473-481; Pan et al., 2006, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 94: 851-861; Kurabi et al., 2005, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 121:219-230). Sulphuric acid is usually added as a catalyst. In organosolv pretreatment, the majority of the hemicellulose is removed.

Other examples of suitable pretreatment methods are described by Schell et al., 2003, Appl. Biochem. and Biotechnol. Vol. 105-108, p. 69-85, and Mosier et al., 2005, Bioresource Technology 96: 673-686, and U.S. Published Application 2002/0164730.

In one aspect, the chemical pretreatment is preferably carried out as an acid treatment, and more preferably as a continuous dilute and/or mild acid treatment. The acid is typically sulfuric acid, but other acids can also be used, such as acetic acid, citric acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, hydrogen chloride or mixtures thereof. Mild acid treatment is conducted in the pH range of preferably 1-5, more preferably 1-4, and most preferably 1-3. In one aspect, the acid concentration is in the range from preferably 0.01 to 20 wt % acid, more preferably 0.05 to 10 wt % acid, even more preferably 0.1 to 5 wt % acid, and most preferably 0.2 to 2.0 wt % acid. The acid is contacted with the cellulose-containing material and held at a temperature, for example, in the range of 160-220° C., preferably 165-195° C., for periods ranging from seconds to minutes to, e.g., 1 second to 60 minutes.

In another aspect, pretreatment is carried out as an ammonia fiber explosion step (AFEX pretreatment step).

In another aspect, pretreatment takes place in an aqueous slurry. In preferred aspects, the cellulose-containing material is present during pretreatment in amounts preferably between 10-80 wt %, more preferably between 20-70 wt %, and most preferably between 30-60 wt %, such as around 50 wt %. The pretreated cellulose-containing material can be unwashed or washed using any method known in the art, e.g., washed with water.

Mechanical Pretreatment: The term “mechanical pretreatment” refers to various types of grinding or milling (e.g., dry milling, wet milling, or vibratory ball milling).

Physical Pretreatment: The term “physical pretreatment” refers to any pretreatment that promotes the separation and/or release of cellulose, hemicellulose, and/or lignin from cellulose-containing material. For example, physical pretreatment can involve irradiation (e.g., microwave irradiation), steaming/steam explosion, hydrothermolysis, and combinations thereof.

Physical pretreatment can involve high pressure and/or high temperature (steam explosion). In one aspect, high pressure means pressure in the range of preferably about 300 to about 600 psi, more preferably about 350 to about 550 psi, and most preferably about 400 to about 500 psi, such as around 450 psi. In another aspect, high temperature means temperatures in the range of about 100 to about 300° C., preferably about 140 to about 235° C. In a preferred aspect, mechanical pretreatment is performed in a batch-process, steam gun hydrolyzer system that uses high pressure and high temperature as defined above, e.g., a Sunds Hydrolyzer available from Sunds Defibrator AB, Sweden.

Combined Physical and Chemical Pretreatment: The cellulose-containing material can be pretreated both physically and chemically. For instance, the pretreatment step can involve dilute or mild acid treatment and high temperature and/or pressure treatment. The physical and chemical pretreatments can be carried out sequentially or simultaneously, as desired. A mechanical pretreatment can also be included.

Accordingly, in a preferred aspect, the cellulose-containing material is subjected to mechanical, chemical, or physical pretreatment, or any combination thereof, to promote the separation and/or release of cellulose, hemicellulose and/or lignin.

Biological Pretreatment: The term “biological pretreatment” refers to any biological pretreatment that promotes the separation and/or release of cellulose, hemicellulose, and/or lignin from the cellulose-containing material. Biological pretreatment techniques can involve applying lignin-solubilizing microorganisms (see, for example, Hsu, T.-A., 1996, Pretreatment of biomass, in Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization, Wyman, C. E., ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, D.C., 179-212; Ghosh and Singh, 1993, Physicochemical and biological treatments for enzymatic/microbial conversion of lignocellulosic biomass, Adv. Appl. Microbiol. 39: 295-333; McMillan, J. D., 1994, Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass: a review, in Enzymatic Conversion of Biomass for Fuels Production, Himmel, M. E., Baker, J. O., and Overend, R. P., eds., ACS Symposium Series 566, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., chapter 15; Gong, C. S., Cao, N. J., Du, J., and Tsao, G. T., 1999, Ethanol production from renewable resources, in Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, Scheper, T., ed., Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 65: 207-241; Olsson and Hahn-Hagerdal, 1996, Fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for ethanol production, Enz. Microb. Tech. 18: 312-331; and Vallander and Eriksson, 1990, Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials: State of the art, Adv. Biochem. Eng./Biotechnol. 42: 63-95).

Saccharification.

In the hydrolysis step, also known as saccharification, the pretreated cellulose-containing material is hydrolyzed to break down cellulose and alternatively also hemicellulose to fermentable sugars, such as glucose, xylose, xylulose, arabinose, maltose, mannose, galactose, and/or soluble oligosaccharides. The hydrolysis is performed enzymatically using a cellulolytic enzyme composition of the present invention comprising an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and soluble activating divalent metal cation. The enzyme components of the composition can also be added sequentially.

Enzymatic hydrolysis is preferably carried out in a suitable aqueous environment under conditions that can be readily determined by one skilled in the art. In a preferred aspect, hydrolysis is performed under conditions suitable for the activity of the enzyme(s), i.e., optimal for the enzyme(s). The hydrolysis can be carried out as a fed batch or continuous process where the pretreated cellulose-containing material (substrate) is fed gradually to, for example, an enzyme containing hydrolysis solution.

The saccharification is generally performed in stirred-tank reactors or fermentors under controlled pH, temperature, and mixing conditions. Suitable process time, temperature, and pH conditions can readily be determined by one skilled in the art. For example, the saccharification can last up to 200 hours, but is typically performed for preferably about 12 to about 96 hours, more preferably about 16 to about 72 hours, and most preferably about 24 to about 48 hours. The temperature is in the range of preferably about 25° C. to about 70° C., more preferably about 30° C. to about 65° C., and more preferably about 40° C. to 60° C., in particular about 50° C. The pH is in the range of preferably about 3 to about 8, more preferably about 3.5 to about 7, and most preferably about 4 to about 6, in particular about pH 5. The dry solids content is in the range of preferably about 5 to about 50 wt %, more preferably about 10 to about 40 wt %, and most preferably about 20 to about 30 wt %.

The optimum amounts of the enzymes and polypeptides having cellulolytic enhancing activity depend on several factors including, but not limited to, the mixture of component cellulolytic proteins, the cellulosic substrate, the concentration of cellulosic substrate, the pretreatment(s) of the cellulosic substrate, temperature, time, pH, and inclusion of fermenting organism (e.g., yeast for Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation).

In a preferred aspect, an effective amount of cellulolytic protein(s) to cellulose-containing material is about 0.5 to about 50 mg, preferably at about 0.5 to about 40 mg, more preferably at about 0.5 to about 25 mg, more preferably at about 0.75 to about 20 mg, more preferably at about 0.75 to about 15 mg, even more preferably at about 0.5 to about 10 mg, and most preferably at about 2.5 to about 10 mg per g of cellulose-containing material.

In another preferred aspect, an effective amount of a polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity to cellulose-containing material is about 0.5 to about 50 mg, preferably at about 0.5 to about 40 mg, more preferably at about 0.5 to about 25 mg, more preferably at about 0.75 to about 20 mg, more preferably at about 0.75 to about 15 mg, even more preferably at about 0.5 to about 10 mg, and most preferably at about 2.5 to about 10 mg per g of cellulose-containing material.

In another preferred aspect, an effective amount of polypeptide(s) having cellulolytic enhancing activity to cellulose-containing material is about 0.01 to about 50.0 mg, preferably about 0.01 to about 40 mg, more preferably about 0.01 to about 30 mg, more preferably about 0.01 to about 20 mg, more preferably about 0.01 to about 10 mg, more preferably about 0.01 to about 5 mg, more preferably at about 0.025 to about 1.5 mg, more preferably at about 0.05 to about 1.25 mg, more preferably at about 0.075 to about 1.25 mg, more preferably at about 0.1 to about 1.25 mg, even more preferably at about 0.15 to about 1.25 mg, and most preferably at about 0.25 to about 1.0 mg per g of cellulose-containing material.

In another preferred aspect, an effective amount of polypeptide(s) having cellulolytic enhancing activity to cellulolytic protein(s) is about 0.005 to about 1.0 g, preferably at about 0.01 to about 1.0 g, more preferably at about 0.15 to about 0.75 g, more preferably at about 0.15 to about 0.5 g, more preferably at about 0.1 to about 0.5 g, even more preferably at about 0.1 to about 0.5 g, and most preferably at about 0.05 to about 0.2 g per g of cellulolytic protein(s).

Fermentation.

The fermentable sugars obtained from the pretreated and hydrolyzed cellulose-containing material can be fermented by one or more fermenting microorganisms capable of fermenting the sugars directly or indirectly into a desired fermentation product. “Fermentation” or “fermentation process” refers to any fermentation process or any process comprising a fermentation step. Fermentation processes also include fermentation processes used in the biofuel industry, consumable alcohol industry (e.g., beer and wine), dairy industry (e.g., fermented dairy products), leather industry, and tobacco industry. The fermentation conditions depend on the desired fermentation product and fermenting organism and can easily be determined by one skilled in the art.

In the fermentation step, sugars, released from the cellulose-containing material as a result of the pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis steps, are fermented to a product, e.g., ethanol, by a fermenting organism, such as yeast. Hydrolysis (saccharification) and fermentation can be separate or simultaneous. Such methods include, but are not limited to, separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF), hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation (HHF), SHCF (separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation), HHCF (hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation), and direct microbial conversion (DMC).

Any suitable hydrolyzed cellulose-containing material can be used in the fermentation step in practicing the present invention. The material is generally selected based on the desired fermentation product, i.e., the substance to be obtained from the fermentation, and the process employed, as is well known in the art.

The term “fermentation medium” is understood herein to refer to a medium before the fermenting microorganism(s) is(are) added, such as, a medium resulting from a saccharification process, as well as a medium, for example, used in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (SSF).

“Fermenting microorganism” refers to any microorganism, including bacterial and fungal organisms, suitable for use in a desired fermentation process to produce a fermentation product. The fermenting organism can be C₆ and/or C₅ fermenting organisms, or a combination thereof. Both C6 and C5 fermenting organisms are well known in the art. Suitable fermenting microorganisms are able to ferment, i.e., convert, sugars, such as glucose, xylose, xylulose, arabinose, maltose, mannose, galactose, or oligosaccharides, directly or indirectly into the desired fermentation product.

Examples of bacterial and fungal fermenting organisms producing ethanol are described by Lin et al., 2006, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 69: 627-642.

Examples of fermenting microorganisms that can ferment C6 sugars include bacterial and fungal organisms, such as yeast. Preferred yeast includes strains of Saccharomyces spp., preferably Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Examples of fermenting organisms that can ferment C5 sugars include bacterial and fungal organisms, such as yeast. Preferred C5 fermenting yeast include strains of Pichia, preferably Pichia stipitis, such as Pichia stipitis CBS 5773; strains of Candida, preferably Candida boidinii, Candida brassicae, Candida sheatae, Candida diddensii, Candida pseudotropicalis, or Candida utilis.

Other fermenting organisms include strains of Zymomonas, such as Zymomonas mobilis; Hansenula, such as Hansenula anomala; Klyveromyces, such as K. fragilis; Schizosaccharomyces, such as S. pombe; and E. coli, especially E. coli strains that have been genetically modified to improve the yield of ethanol.

In a preferred aspect, the yeast is a Saccharomyces spp. In a more preferred aspect, the yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Saccharomyces distaticus. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Saccharomyces uvarum. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Kluyveromyces. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Kluyveromyces marxianus. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Kluyveromyces fragilis. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Candida. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Candida boidinii. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Candida brassicae. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Candida diddensii. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Candida pseudotropicalis. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Candida utilis. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Clavispora. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Clavispora lusitaniae. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Clavispora opuntiae. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Pachysolen. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Pachysolen tannophilus. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Pichia. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is a Pichia stipitis. In another preferred aspect, the yeast is a Bretannomyces. In another more preferred aspect, the yeast is Bretannomyces clausenii (Philippidis, G. P., 1996, Cellulose bioconversion technology, in Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization, Wyman, C. E., ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, D.C., 179-212).

Bacteria that can efficiently ferment hexose and pentose to ethanol include, for example, Zymomonas mobilis and Clostridium thermocellum (Philippidis, 1996, supra).

In a preferred aspect, the bacterium is a Zymomonas. In a more preferred aspect, the bacterium is Zymomonas mobilis. In another preferred aspect, the bacterium is a Clostridium. In another more preferred aspect, the bacterium is Clostridium thermocellum.

Commercially available yeast suitable for ethanol production includes, e.g., ETHANOL RED™ yeast (available from Fermentis/Lesaffre, USA), FALI™ (available from Fleischmann's Yeast, USA), SUPERSTART™ and THERMOSACC™ fresh yeast (available from Ethanol Technology, WI, USA), BIOFERM™ AFT and XR (available from NABC—North American Bioproducts Corporation, GA, USA), GERT STRAND™ (available from Gert Strand AB, Sweden), and FERMIOL™ (available from DSM Specialties).

In a preferred aspect, the fermenting microorganism has been genetically modified to provide the ability to ferment pentose sugars, such as xylose utilizing, arabinose utilizing, and xylose and arabinose co-utilizing microorganisms.

The cloning of heterologous genes into various fermenting microorganisms has led to the construction of organisms capable of converting hexoses and pentoses to ethanol (cofermentation) (Chen and Ho, 1993, Cloning and improving the expression of Pichia stipitis xylose reductase gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 39-40: 135-147; Ho et al., 1998, Genetically engineered Saccharomyces yeast capable of effectively cofermenting glucose and xylose, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 1852-1859; Kotter and Ciriacy, 1993, Xylose fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 38: 776-783; Walfridsson et al., 1995, Xylose-metabolizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains overexpressing the TKL1 and TALI genes encoding the pentose phosphate pathway enzymes transketolase and transaldolase, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61: 4184-4190; Kuyper et al., 2004, Minimal metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient anaerobic xylose fermentation: a proof of principle, FEMS Yeast Research 4: 655-664; Beall et al., 1991, Parametric studies of ethanol production from xylose and other sugars by recombinant Escherichia coli, Biotech. Bioeng. 38: 296-303; Ingram et al., 1998, Metabolic engineering of bacteria for ethanol production, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 58: 204-214; Zhang et al., 1995, Metabolic engineering of a pentose metabolism pathway in ethanologenic Zymomonas mobilis, Science 267: 240-243; Deanda et al., 1996, Development of an arabinose-fermenting Zymomonas mobilis strain by metabolic pathway engineering, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62: 4465-4470).

In a preferred aspect, the genetically modified fermenting microorganism is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In another preferred aspect, the genetically modified fermenting microorganism is Zymomonas mobilis. In another preferred aspect, the genetically modified fermenting microorganism is Escherichia coli. In another preferred aspect, the genetically modified fermenting microorganism is Klebsiella oxytoca.

The fermenting microorganism(s) is typically added to the degraded cellulose or hydrolysate and the fermentation is performed for about 8 to about 96 hours, such as about 24 to about 60 hours. The temperature is typically between about 26° C. to about 60° C., in particular about 32° C. or 50° C., and at about pH 3 to about pH 8, such as around pH 4-5, 6, or 7.

In a preferred aspect, the fermenting microorganism(s) is applied to the degraded cellulose or hydrolysate and the fermentation is performed for about 12 to about 96 hours, such as typically 24-60 hours. In a preferred aspect, the temperature is preferably between about 20° C. to about 60° C., more preferably about 25° C. to about 50° C., and most preferably about 32° C. to about 50° C., in particular about 32° C. or 50° C., and the pH is generally from about pH 3 to about pH 7, preferably around pH 4-7. However, some, e.g., bacterial fermenting organisms have higher fermentation temperature optima. The fermenting microorganism(s) is preferably applied in amounts of approximately 10⁵ to 10¹², preferably from approximately 10⁷ to 10¹⁰, especially approximately 2×10⁸ viable cell count per ml of fermentation broth. Further guidance in respect of using yeast for fermentation can be found in, e.g., “The Alcohol Textbook” (Editors K. Jacques, T. P. Lyons and D. R. Kelsall, Nottingham University Press, United Kingdom 1999), which is hereby incorporated by reference.

For ethanol production, following the fermentation the fermented slurry is distilled to extract the ethanol. The ethanol obtained according to the methods of the invention can be used as, e.g., fuel ethanol, drinking ethanol, i.e., potable neutral spirits, or industrial ethanol.

A fermentation stimulator can be used in combination with any of the enzymatic processes described herein to further improve the fermentation process, and in particular, the performance of the fermenting microorganism, such as, rate enhancement and ethanol yield. A “fermentation stimulator” refers to stimulators for growth of the fermenting microorganisms, in particular, yeast. Preferred fermentation stimulators for growth include vitamins and minerals. Examples of vitamins include multivitamins, biotin, pantothenate, nicotinic acid, meso-inositol, thiamine, pyridoxine, para-aminobenzoic acid, folic acid, riboflavin, and Vitamins A, B, C, D, and E. See, for example, Alfenore et al., Improving ethanol production and viability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by a vitamin feeding strategy during fed-batch process, Springer-Verlag (2002), which is hereby incorporated by reference. Examples of minerals include minerals and mineral salts that can supply nutrients comprising P, K, Mg, S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu.

Fermentation Products:

A fermentation product can be any substance derived from the fermentation. The fermentation product can be, without limitation, an alcohol (e.g., arabinitol, butanol, ethanol, glycerol, methanol, 1,3-propanediol, sorbitol, and xylitol); an organic acid (e.g., acetic acid, acetonic acid, adipic acid, ascorbic acid, citric acid, 2,5-diketo-D-gluconic acid, formic acid, fumaric acid, glucaric acid, gluconic acid, glucuronic acid, glutaric acid, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, itaconic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, malonic acid, oxalic acid, propionic acid, succinic acid, and xylonic acid); a ketone (e.g., acetone); an aldehyde (e.g., formaldehyde); an amino acid (e.g., aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, lysine, serine, and threonine); and a gas (e.g., methane, hydrogen (H₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and carbon monoxide (CO)). The fermentation product can also be protein as a high value product.

In a preferred aspect, the fermentation product is an alcohol. It will be understood that the term “alcohol” encompasses a substance that contains one or more hydroxyl moieties. In a more preferred aspect, the alcohol is arabinitol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is butanol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is ethanol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is glycerol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is methanol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is 1,3-propanediol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is sorbitol. In another more preferred aspect, the alcohol is xylitol. See, for example, Gong, C. S., Cao, N. J., Du, J., and Tsao, G. T., 1999, Ethanol production from renewable resources, in Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, Scheper, T., ed., Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 65: 207-241; Silveira, M. M., and Jonas, R., 2002, The biotechnological production of sorbitol, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 59: 400-408; Nigam, P., and Singh, D., 1995, Processes for fermentative production of xylitol—a sugar substitute, Process Biochemistry 30 (2): 117-124; Ezeji, T. C., Qureshi, N. and Blaschek, H. P., 2003, Production of acetone, butanol and ethanol by Clostridium beijerinckii BA101 and in situ recovery by gas stripping, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 19 (6): 595-603.

In another preferred aspect, the fermentation product is an organic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is acetic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is acetonic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is adipic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is ascorbic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is citric acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is 2,5-diketo-D-gluconic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is formic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is fumaric acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is glucaric acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is gluconic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is glucuronic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is glutaric acid. In another preferred aspect, the organic acid is 3-hydroxypropionic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is itaconic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is lactic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is malic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is malonic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is oxalic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is propionic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is succinic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is xylonic acid. See, for example, Chen, R., and Lee, Y. Y., 1997, Membrane-mediated extractive fermentation for lactic acid production from cellulosic biomass, Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 63-65: 435-448.

In another preferred aspect, the fermentation product is a ketone. It will be understood that the term “ketone” encompasses a substance that contains one or more ketone moieties. In another more preferred aspect, the ketone is acetone. See, for example, Qureshi and Blaschek, 2003, supra.

In another preferred aspect, the fermentation product is an aldehyde. In another more preferred aspect, the aldehyde is formaldehyde.

In another preferred aspect, the fermentation product is an amino acid. In another more preferred aspect, the organic acid is aspartic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the amino acid is glutamic acid. In another more preferred aspect, the amino acid is glycine. In another more preferred aspect, the amino acid is lysine. In another more preferred aspect, the amino acid is serine. In another more preferred aspect, the amino acid is threonine. See, for example, Richard, A., and Margaritis, A., 2004, Empirical modeling of batch fermentation kinetics for poly(glutamic acid) production and other microbial biopolymers, Biotechnology and Bioengineering 87 (4): 501-515.

In another preferred aspect, the fermentation product is a gas. In another more preferred aspect, the gas is methane. In another more preferred aspect, the gas is H₂. In another more preferred aspect, the gas is CO₂. In another more preferred aspect, the gas is CO. See, for example, Kataoka, N., A. Miya, and K. Kiriyama, 1997, Studies on hydrogen production by continuous culture system of hydrogen-producing anaerobic bacteria, Water Science and Technology 36 (6-7): 41-47; and Gunaseelan V. N. in Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 13 (1-2), pp. 83-114, 1997, Anaerobic digestion of biomass for methane production: A review.

Recovery.

The fermentation product(s) can be optionally recovered from the fermentation medium using any method known in the art including, but not limited to, chromatography (e.g., ion exchange, affinity, hydrophobic, chromatofocusing, and size exclusion), electrophoretic procedures (e.g., preparative isoelectric focusing), differential solubility (e.g., ammonium sulfate precipitation), distillation, or extraction. For example, ethanol is separated from the fermented cellulose-containing material and purified by conventional methods of distillation. Ethanol with a purity of up to about 96 vol. % can be obtained, which can be used as, for example, fuel ethanol, drinking ethanol, i.e., potable neutral spirits, or industrial ethanol.

The present invention is further described by the following examples that should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

EXAMPLES Materials

Chemicals used as buffers and substrates were commercial products of at least reagent grade.

DNA Sequencing

DNA sequencing was performed using an Applied Biosystems Model 3130X Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif., USA) using dye terminator chemistry (Giesecke et al., 1992, Journal of Virol. Methods 38: 47-60). Sequences were assembled using phred/phrap/consed (University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., USA) with sequence specific primers.

Media

NNCYP medium was composed per liter of 5.0 g of NH₄NO₃, 0.5 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 0.3 g of CaCl₂, 2.5 g of citric acid, 1.0 g of Bacto Peptone, 5.0 g of yeast extract, COVE trace metals solution, and sufficient K₂HPO₄ to achieve a final pH of approximately 5.4.

COVE trace metals solution was composed per liter of 0.04 g of Na₂B₄O₇.10H₂O, 0.4 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 1.2 g of FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.7 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 0.8 g of Na₂MoO₂.2H₂O, and 10 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O.

YP medium was composed per liter of 10 g of yeast extract and 20 g of bacto tryptone.

Cellulase-inducing medium was composed per liter of 20 g of cellulose, 10 g of corn steep solids, 1.45 g of (NH₄)₂SO₄, 2.08 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.28 g of CaCl₂, 0.42 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, and 0.42 ml of trace metals solution.

Trace metals solution was composed per liter of 216 g of FeCl₃.6H₂O, 58 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 27 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 10 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 2.4 g of H₃BO₃, and 336 g of citric acid.

STC was composed of 1 M sorbitol, 10 mM CaCl₂, and 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5.

COVE plates were composed per liter of 342 g of sucrose, 10 ml of COVE salts solution, 10 ml of 1 M acetamide, 10 ml of 1.5 M CsCl, and 25 g of Noble agar.

COVE salts solution was composed per liter of 26 g of KCl, 26 g of MgSO₄, 76 g of KH₂PO₄, and 50 ml of COVE trace metals solution.

COVE2 plates were composed per liter of 30 g of sucrose, 20 ml of COVE salts solution, 25 g of Noble agar, and 10 ml of 1 M acetamide.

PDA plates were composed per liter of 39 grams of potato dextrose agar.

LB medium was composed per liter of 10 g of tryptone, 5 g of yeast extract, 5 g of sodium chloride.

2×YT-Amp plates were composed per liter of 10 g of tryptone, 5 g of yeast extract, 5 g of sodium chloride, and 15 g of Bacto Agar, followed by 2 ml of a filter-sterilized solution of 50 mg/ml ampicillin after autoclaving.

MDU2BP medium was composed per liter of 45 g of maltose, 1 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 1 g of NaCl, 2 g of K₂HSO₄, 12 g of KH₂PO₄, 2 g of urea, and 500 μl of AMG trace metals solution, the pH was adjusted to 5.0 and then filter sterilized with a 0.22 μm filtering unit.

AMG trace metals solution was composed per liter of 14.3 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 2.5 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 0.5 g of NiCl₂.6H₂O, 13.8 g of FeSO₄. H₂O, 8.5 g of MnSO₄.7H₂O, and 3 g of citric acid.

Minimal medium plates were composed per liter of 6 g of NaNO₃, 0.52 of KCl, 1.52 g of KH₂PO₄, 1 ml of COVE trace metals solution, 20 g of Noble agar, 20 ml of 50% glucose, 2.5 ml of 20% MgSO₄.7H₂O, and 20 ml of biotin stock solution.

Biotin stock solution was composed per liter of 0.2 g of biotin.

SOC medium was composed of 2% tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 10 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 10 mM MgCl₂, and 10 mM MgSO₄, followed by filter-sterilized glucose to 20 mM after autoclaving.

Example 1: Construction of pMJ04 Expression Vector

Expression vector pMJ04 was constructed by PCR amplifying the Trichoderma reesei exocellobiohydrolase 1 gene (cbh1, CEL7A) terminator from Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA using primers 993429 (antisense) and 993428 (sense) shown below. The antisense primer was engineered to have a Pac I site at the 5′-end and a Spe I site at the 3′-end of the sense primer.

Primer 993429 (antisense): (SEQ ID NO: 29) 5'-AACGTTAATTAAGGAATCGTTTTGTGTTT-3' Primer 993428 (sense): (SEQ ID NO: 30) 5'-AGTACTAGTAGCTCCGTGGCGAAAGCCTG-3'

Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA was isolated using a DNEASY® Plant Maxi Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, Calif., USA).

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., USA), 0.3 mM dNTPs, 100 ng of Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA, 0.3 μM primer 993429, 0.3 μM primer 993428, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., USA). The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 (Eppendorf Scientific, Inc., Westbury, N.Y., USA) programmed for 5 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C., followed by 25 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using 40 mM Tris base-20 mM sodium acetate-1 mM disodium EDTA (TAE) buffer where a 229 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The resulting PCR fragment was digested with Pac I and Spe I and ligated into pAlLo1 (WO 05/067531) digested with the same restriction enzymes using a Rapid Ligation Kit (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind., USA), to generate pMJ04 (FIG. 1).

Example 2: Construction of pCaHj568

Plasmid pCaHj568 was constructed from pCaHj170 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,254) and pMT2188. Plasmid pCaHj170 comprises the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V (CEL45A) full-length coding region (SEQ ID NO: 31, which encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 32). Construction of pMT2188 was initiated by PCR amplifying the pUC19 origin of replication from pCaHj483 (WO 98/00529) using primers 142779 and 142780 shown below. Primer 142780 introduces a Bbu I site in the PCR fragment.

Primer 142779: (SEQ ID NO: 33) 5'-TTGAATTGAAAATAGATTGATTTAAAACTTC-3' Primer 142780: (SEQ ID NO: 34) 5'-TTGCATGCGTAATCATGGTCATAGC-3'

An EXPAND® PCR System (Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Basel, Switzerland) was used following the manufacturer's instructions for this amplification. PCR products were separated on an agarose gel and an 1160 bp fragment was isolated and purified using a Jetquick Gel Extraction Spin Kit (Genomed, Wielandstr, Germany).

The URA3 gene was amplified from the general Saccharomyces cerevisiae cloning vector pYES2 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) using primers 140288 and 142778 shown below using an EXPAND® PCR System. Primer 140288 introduced an Eco RI site into the PCR fragment.

Primer 140288: (SEQ ID NO: 35) 5'-TTGAATTCATGGGTAATAACTGATAT-3' Primer 142778: (SEQ ID NO: 36) 5'-AAATCAATCTATTTTCAATTCAATTCATCATT-3'

PCR products were separated on an agarose gel and an 1126 bp fragment was isolated and purified using a Jetquick Gel Extraction Spin Kit.

The two PCR fragments were fused by mixing and amplified using primers 142780 and 140288 shown above by the overlap splicing method (Horton et al., 1989, Gene 77: 61-68). PCR products were separated on an agarose gel and a 2263 bp fragment was isolated and purified using a Jetquick Gel Extraction Spin Kit.

The resulting fragment was digested with Eco RI and Bbu I and ligated using standard protocols to the largest fragment of pCaHj483 digested with the same restriction enzymes. The ligation mixture was transformed into pyrF-negative E. coli strain DB6507 (ATCC 35673) made competent by the method of Mandel and Higa, 1970, J. Mol. Biol. 45: 154. Transformants were selected on solid M9 medium (Sambrook et al., 1989, Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press) supplemented per liter with 1 g of casaminoacids, 500 μg of thiamine, and 10 mg of kanamycin. A plasmid from one transformant was isolated and designated pCaHj527 (FIG. 2).

The NA2-tpi promoter present on pCaHj527 was subjected to site-directed mutagenesis by PCR using an EXPAND® PCR System according to the manufacturer's instructions. Nucleotides 134-144 were converted from GTACTAAAACC (SEQ ID NO: 37) to CCGTTAAATTT (SEQ ID NO: 38) using mutagenic primer 141223 shown below.

Primer 141223: (SEQ ID NO: 39) 5′-GGATGCTGTTGACTCCGGAAATTTAACGGTTTGGTCTTGCATCCC- 3′ Nucleotides 423-436 were converted from ATGCAATTTAAACT (SEQ ID NO: 40) to CGGCAATTTAACGG (SEQ ID NO: 41) using mutagenic primer 141222 shown below.

Primer 141222: (SEQ ID NO: 42) 5′-GGTATTGTCCTGCAGACGGCAATTTAACGGCTTCTGCGAATCGC-3′ The resulting plasmid was designated pMT2188 (FIG. 3).

The Humicola insolens endoglucanase V coding region was transferred from pCaHj170 as a Bam HI-Sal I fragment into pMT2188 digested with Bam HI and Xho I to generate pCaHj568 (FIG. 4). Plasmid pCaHj568 comprises a mutated NA2-tpi promoter operably linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V full-length coding sequence.

Example 3: Construction of pMJ05

Plasmid pMJ05 was constructed by PCR amplifying the 915 bp Humicola insolens endoglucanase V full-length coding region from pCaHj568 using primers HiEGV-F and HiEGV-R shown below.

Primer HiEGV-F (sense): (SEQ ID NO: 43) 5′-AAGCTTAAGCATGCGTTCCTCCCCCCTCC-3′ Primer HiEGV-R (antisense): (SEQ ID NO: 44) 5′-CTGCAGAATTCTACAGGCACTGATGGTACCAG-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., USA), 0.3 mM dNTPs, 10 ng/μl of pCaHj568, 0.3 μM HiEGV-F primer, 0.3 μM HiEGV-R primer, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., USA). The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 5 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C., followed by 25 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 937 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The 937 bp purified fragment was used as template DNA for subsequent amplifications with the following primers:

Primer HiEGV-R (antisense): (SEQ ID NO: 45) 5′-CTGCAGAATTCTACAGGCACTGATGGTACCAG-3′ Primer HiEGV-F-overlap (sense): (SEQ ID NO: 46) 5′-ACCGCGGACTGCGC ATCATGCGTTCCTCCCCCCTCC-3′ Primer sequences in italics are homologous to 17 bp of the promoter of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene (cbh1) (WO 91/17243) and underlined primer sequences are homologous to 29 bp of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V coding region. A 36 bp overlap between the promoter and the coding sequence allowed precise fusion of a 994 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter to the 918 bp fragment comprising the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V coding region.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer, 0.3 mM dNTPs, 1 μl of the purified 937 bp PCR fragment, 0.3 μM HiEGV-F-overlap primer, 0.3 μM HiEGV-R primer, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 5 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C., followed by 25 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 945 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

A separate PCR was performed to amplify the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter sequence extending from 994 bp upstream of the ATG start codon of the gene from Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA using the primers shown below (the sense primer was engineered to have a Sal I restriction site at the 5′-end). Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA was isolated using a DNeasy Plant Maxi Kit.

Primer TrCBHIpro-F (sense): (SEQ ID NO: 47) 5′-AAACGTCGACCGAATGTAGGATTGTTATC-3′ Primer TrCBHIpro-R (antisense): (SEQ ID NO: 48) 5′-GATGCGCAGTCCGCGGT-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer, 0.3 mM dNTPs, 100 ng/μl Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA, 0.3 μM TrCBHIpro-F primer, 0.3 μM TrCBHIpro-R primer, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 55° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 998 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The purified 998 bp PCR fragment was used as template DNA for subsequent amplifications using the primers shown below.

Primer TrCBHIpro-F: (SEQ ID NO: 49) 5′-AAACGTCGACCGAATGTAGGATTGTTATC-3′ Primer TrCBHIpro-R-overlap: (SEQ ID NO: 50) 5′-GGAGGGGGGAGGAACGCAT GATGCGCAGTCCGCGGT-3′

Sequences in italics are homologous to 17 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and underlined sequences are homologous to 29 bp of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V coding region. A 36 bp overlap between the promoter and the coding sequence allowed precise fusion of the 994 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter to the 918 bp fragment comprising the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V full-length coding region.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer, 0.3 mM dNTPs, 1 μl of the purified 998 bp PCR fragment, 0.3 μM TrCBH1pro-F primer, 0.3 μM TrCBH1pro-R-overlap primer, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 5 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C., followed by 25 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 1017 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The 1017 bp Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter PCR fragment and the 945 bp Humicola insolens endoglucanase V PCR fragment were used as template DNA for subsequent amplification using the following primers to precisely fuse the 994 bp cbh1 promoter to the 918 bp endoglucanase V full-length coding region using overlapping PCR.

Primer TrCBHIpro-F: (SEQ ID NO: 51) 5′-AAACGTCGACCGAATGTAGGATTGTTATC-3′ Primer HiEGV-R: (SEQ ID NO: 52) 5′-CTGCAGAATTCTACAGGCACTGATGGTACCAG-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1× ThermoPol Reaction Buffer, 0.3 mM dNTPs, 0.3 μM TrCBH1pro-F primer, 0.3 μM HiEGV-R primer, and 2 units of Vent DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 5 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C., followed by 25 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (5 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 1926 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The resulting 1926 bp fragment was cloned into a pCR®-Blunt-II-TOPO® vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) using a ZEROBLUNT® TOPO® PCR Cloning Kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) following the manufacturer's protocol. The resulting plasmid was digested with Not I and Sal I and the 1926 bp fragment was gel purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit and ligated using T4 DNA ligase (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind., USA) into pMJ04, which was also digested with the same two restriction enzymes, to generate pMJ05 (FIG. 5). Plasmid pMJ05 comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I promoter and terminator operably linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V full-length coding sequence.

Example 4: Construction of pSMai130 Expression Vector

A 2586 bp DNA fragment spanning from the ATG start codon to the TAA stop codon of an Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase full-length coding sequence (SEQ ID NO: 15 for cDNA sequence and SEQ ID NO: 16 for the deduced amino acid sequence; E. coli DSM 14240) was amplified by PCR from pJaL660 (WO 2002/095014) as template with primers 993467 (sense) and 993456 (antisense) shown below. A Spe I site was engineered at the 5′ end of the antisense primer to facilitate ligation. Primer sequences in italics are homologous to 24 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and underlined sequences are homologous to 22 bp of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding region.

Primer 993467: (SEQ ID NO: 53) 5′-ATAGTCAACCGCGGACTGCGCATC ATGAAGCTTGGTTGGATCGAGG- 3′ Primer 993456: (SEQ ID NO: 54) 5′-ACTAGTTTACTGGGCCTTAGGCAGCG-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA), 0.25 mM dNTPs, 10 ng of pJaL660, 6.4 μM primer 993467, 3.2 μM primer 993456, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA). The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 55° C., and 3 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 2586 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

A separate PCR was performed to amplify the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter sequence extending from 1000 bp upstream of the ATG start codon of the gene, using primer 993453 (sense) and primer 993463 (antisense) shown below to generate a 1000 bp PCR fragment.

Primer 993453: (SEQ ID NO: 55) 5′-GTCGACTCGAAGCCCGAATGTAGGAT-3′ Primer 993463: (SEQ ID NO: 56) 5′-CCTCGATCCAACCAAGCTTCAT GATGCGCAGTCCGCGGTTGACTA- 3′ Primer sequences in italics are homologous to 24 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and underlined primer sequences are homologous to 22 bp of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase full-length coding region. The 46 bp overlap between the promoter and the coding sequence allowed precise fusion of the 1000 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter to the 2586 bp fragment comprising the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding region.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer, 0.25 mM dNTPs, 100 ng of Trichoderma reesei RutC30 genomic DNA, 6.4 μM primer 993453, 3.2 μM primer 993463, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 55° C., and 3 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 1000 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The purified fragments were used as template DNA for subsequent amplification by overlapping PCR using primer 993453 (sense) and primer 993456 (antisense) shown above to precisely fuse the 1000 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter to the 2586 bp fragment comprising the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase full-length coding region.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer, 0.25 mM dNTPs, 6.4 μM primer 99353, 3.2 μM primer 993456, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 60° C., and 4 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension).

The resulting 3586 bp fragment was digested with Sal I and Spe I and ligated into pMJ04, digested with the same two restriction enzymes, to generate pSMai130 (FIG. 6). Plasmid pSMai130 comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase 1 gene promoter and terminator operably linked to the Aspergillus oryzae native beta-glucosidase signal sequence and coding sequence (i.e., full-length Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding sequence).

Example 5: Construction of pSMai135

The Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase mature coding region (minus the native signal sequence, see FIG. 7; SEQ ID NOs: 57 and 58 for the signal peptide and coding sequence thereof) from Lys-20 to the TAA stop codon was PCR amplified from pJaL660 as template with primer 993728 (sense) and primer 993727 (antisense) shown below.

Primer 993728: (SEQ ID NO: 59) 5′-TGCCGGTGTTGGCCCTTGCC AAGGATGATCTCGCGTACTCCC-3′ Primer 993727: (SEQ ID NO: 60) 5′-GACTAGTCTTACTGGGCCTTAGGCAGCG-3′ Sequences in italics are homologous to 20 bp of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence and sequences underlined are homologous to 22 bp of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding region. A Spe I site was engineered into the 5′ end of the antisense primer.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer, 0.25 mM dNTPs, 10 ng/μl of pJaL660, 6.4 μM primer 993728, 3.2 μM primer 993727, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 55° C., and 3 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 2523 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

A separate PCR amplification was performed to amplify 1000 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and 63 bp of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence (ATG start codon to Ala-21, FIG. 8, SEQ ID NOs: 61 and 62), using primer 993724 (sense) and primer 993729 (antisense) shown below.

Primer 993724: (SEQ ID NO: 63) 5′-ACGCGTCGACCGAATGTAGGATTGTTATCC-3′ Primer 993729: (SEQ ID NO: 64) 5′-GGGAGTACGCGAGATCATCCTT GGCAAGGGCCAACACCGGCA-3′

Primer sequences in italics are homologous to 20 bp of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence and underlined primer sequences are homologous to the 22 bp of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding region.

Plasmid pMJ05, which comprises the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V coding region under the control of the cbh1 promoter, was used as template to generate a 1063 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence fragment. A 42 bp of overlap was shared between the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence and the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase mature coding sequence to provide a perfect linkage between the promoter and the ATG start codon of the 2523 bp Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase coding region.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer, 0.25 mM dNTPs, 10 ng/μl of pMJ05, 6.4 μM primer 993728, 3.2 μM primer 993727, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 60° C., and 4 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 1063 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The purified overlapping fragments were used as templates for amplification using primer 993724 (sense) and primer 993727 (antisense) described above to precisely fuse the 1063 bp fragment comprising the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 promoter and Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence to the 2523 bp fragment comprising the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase mature coding region frame by overlapping PCR.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of Pfx Amplification Buffer, 0.25 mM dNTPs, 6.4 μM primer 993724, 3.2 μM primer 993727, 1 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 1 minute at 94° C., 1 minute at 60° C., and 4 minutes at 72° C. (15 minute final extension). The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 3591 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The resulting 3591 bp fragment was digested with Sal I and Spe I and ligated into pMJ04 digested with the same restriction enzymes to generate pSMai135 (FIG. 9). Plasmid pSMai135 comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase 1 gene promoter and terminator operably linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence and the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase mature coding sequence.

Example 6: Expression of Aspergillus oryzae Beta-Glucosidase with the Humicola insolens Endoglucanase V Secretion Signal

Plasmid pSMai135 encoding the mature Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V secretion signal (FIG. 8) was introduced into Trichoderma reesei RutC30 by PEG-mediated transformation (Penttila et al., 1987, Gene 61 155-164). The plasmid contained the Aspergillus nidulans amdS gene to enable transformants to grow on acetamide as the sole nitrogen source.

Trichoderma reesei RutC30 was cultivated at 27° C. and 90 rpm in 25 ml of YP medium supplemented with 2% (w/v) glucose and 10 mM uridine for 17 hours. Mycelia was collected by filtration using a Vacuum Driven Disposable Filtration System (Millipore, Bedford, Mass., USA) and washed twice with deionized water and twice with 1.2 M sorbitol. Protoplasts were generated by suspending the washed mycelia in 20 ml of 1.2 M sorbitol containing 15 mg of GLUCANEX® (Novozymes A/S, Bagsvrd, Denmark) per ml and 0.36 units of chitinase (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo., USA) per ml and incubating for 15-25 minutes at 34° C. with gentle shaking at 90 rpm. Protoplasts were collected by centrifuging for 7 minutes at 400×g and washed twice with cold 1.2 M sorbitol. The protoplasts were counted using a haemacytometer and re-suspended in STC to a final concentration of 1×10⁸ protoplasts per ml. Excess protoplasts were stored in a Cryo 1° C. Freezing Container (Nalgene, Rochester, N.Y., USA) at −80° C.

Approximately 7 μg of pSMai135 digested with Pme I was added to 100 μl of protoplast solution and mixed gently, followed by 260 μl of PEG buffer, mixed, and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes. STC (3 ml) was then added and mixed and the transformation solution was plated onto COVE plates using Aspergillus nidulans amdS selection. The plates were incubated at 28° C. for 5-7 days. Transformants were sub-cultured onto COVE2 plates and grown at 28° C.

Sixty-seven transformants designated SMA135 obtained with pSMai135 were subcultured onto fresh plates containing acetamide and allowed to sporulate for 7 days at 28° C.

The 67 SMA135 Trichoderma reesei transformants were cultivated in 125 ml baffled shake flasks containing 25 ml of cellulase-inducing medium at pH 6.0 inoculated with spores of the transformants and incubated at 28° C. and 200 rpm for 7 days. Trichoderma reesei RutC30 was run as a control. Culture broth samples were removed at day 7. One ml of each culture broth was centrifuged at 15,700×g for 5 minutes in a micro-centrifuge and the supernatants transferred to new tubes. Samples were stored at 4° C. until enzyme assay. The supernatants were assayed for beta-glucosidase activity using p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside as substrate, as described below.

Beta-glucosidase activity was determined at ambient temperature using 25 μl aliquots of culture supernatants, diluted 1:10 in 50 mM succinate pH 5.0, in 200 μl of 0.5 mg/ml p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside as substrate in 50 mM succinate pH 5.0. After 15 minutes incubation the reaction was stopped by adding 100 μl of 1 M Tris-HCl pH 8.0 and the absorbance was read spectrophotometrically at 405 nm. One unit of beta-glucosidase activity corresponded to production of 1 μmol of p-nitrophenyl per minute per liter at pH 5.0, ambient temperature. Aspergillus niger beta-glucosidase (NOVOZYM™ 188, Novozymes A/S, Bagsvrd, Denmark) was used as an enzyme standard.

A number of the SMA135 transformants produced beta-glucosidase activities several-fold higher than that of Trichoderma reesei RutC30. Transformant SMA135-04 produced the highest beta-glucosidase activity.

SDS-PAGE was carried out using CRITERION® Tris-HCl (5% resolving) gels (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) with the CRITERION® System (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA). Five μl of day 7 supernatants (see above) were suspended in 2X concentration of Laemmli Sample Buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) and boiled in the presence of 5% beta-mercaptoethanol for 3 minutes. The supernatant samples were loaded onto a polyacrylamide gel and subjected to electrophoresis with 1×Tris/Glycine/SDS as running buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA). The resulting gel was stained with BIO-SAFE® Coomassie Stain (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA).

Totally, 26 of the 38 Trichoderma reesei SMA135 transformants produced a protein of approximately 110 kDa that was not visible in Trichoderma reesei RutC30 as control. Transformant Trichoderma reesei SMA135-04 produced the highest level of beta-glucosidase.

Example 7: Construction of Expression Vector pSMai140

Expression vector pSMai140 was constructed by digesting plasmid pSATe111BG41 (WO 04/099228), which carries the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 full-length coding region (SEQ ID NO: 25, which encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26), with Nco I. The resulting 1243 bp fragment was isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Expression vector pSMai135 was digested with Nco I and a 8286 bp fragment was isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. The 1243 bp Nco I digested Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 fragment was then ligated to the 8286 bp vector fragment, using T4 DNA ligase (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind., USA) according to manufacturer's protocol, to create the expression vector pSMai140 (FIG. 10). Plasmid pSMai140 comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A) gene promoter and terminator operably linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence and the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant mature coding sequence.

Example 8: Transformation of Trichoderma reesei RutC30 with pSMai140

Plasmid pSMai140 was linearized with Pme I and transformed into the Trichoderma reesei RutC30 strain as described in Example 6. A total of 100 transformants were obtained from 4 independent transformation experiments, all of which were cultivated in shake flasks on cellulase-inducing medium, and the beta-glucosidase activity was measured from the culture medium of the transformants as described in Example 6. A number of Trichoderma reesei SMA140 transformants showed beta-glucosidase activities several fold more than that of Trichoderma reesei RutC30.

The presence of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 protein in the culture medium was detected by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as described in Example 6 and Coomassie staining from the same 13 culture supernatants from which enzyme activity were analyzed. All thirteen transformants that had high β-glucosidase activity, also expressed the approximately 110 KDa Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41, at varying yields.

The highest beta-glucosidase variant expressing transformant, as evaluated by beta-glucosidase activity assay and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was designated Trichoderma reesei SMA 140-43.

Example 9: Construction of Expression Vector pSaMe-F1

A DNA fragment containing 209 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene promoter and the core region (nucleotides 1 to 702 of SEQ ID NO: 31, which encodes amino acids 1 to 234 of SEQ ID NO: 32; WO 91/17243) of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V gene was PCR amplified using pMJ05 as template and the primers shown below.

Primer 995103: (SEQ ID NO: 65) 5′-cccaagcttagccaagaaca-3′ Primer 995137: (SEQ ID NO: 66) 5′-gggggaggaacgcatgggatctggacggc-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1×Pfx Amplification Buffer, 10 mM dNTPs, 50 mM MgSO₄, 10 ng/μl of pMJ05, 50 picomoles of 995103 primer, 50 picomoles of 995137 primer, and 2 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 55° C., and 60 seconds at 72° C. (3 minute final extension).

The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 911 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

A DNA fragment containing 806 bp of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 gene was PCR amplified using pSMai140 as template and the primers shown below.

Primer 995133: (SEQ ID NO: 67) 5′-gccgtccagatccccatgcgttcctccccc-3′ Primer 995111: (SEQ ID NO: 68) 5′-ccaagcttgttcagagtttc-3′

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1×Pfx Amplification Buffer, 10 mM dNTPs, 50 mM MgSO₄, 100 ng of pSMai140, 50 picomoles of 995133 primer, 50 picomoles of 995111 primer, and 2 units of Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for 30 cycles each for 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 55° C., and 120 seconds at 72° C. (3 minute final extension).

The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 806 bp product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The two PCR fragments above were then subjected to overlapping PCR. The purified overlapping fragments were used as templates for amplification using primer 995103 (sense) and primer 995111 (antisense) described above to precisely fuse the 702 bp fragment comprising 209 bp of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene promoter and the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core sequence to the 806 bp fragment comprising a portion of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 coding region by overlapping PCR.

The amplification reactions (50 μl) were composed of 1×Pfx Amplification Buffer, 10 mM dNTPs, 50 mM MgSO₄, 2.5 μl of each fragment (20 ng/μl), 50 picomoles of 995103 primer, 50 picomoles of 995111 primer, and 2 units of high fidelity Pfx DNA polymerase. The reactions were incubated in an EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 programmed for an initial denaturation of 3 minutes at 95° C. followed by 30 cycles each for 1 minute of denaturation, 1 minute annealing at 60° C., and a 3 minute extension at 72° C.

The reaction products were isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer where a 1.7 kb product band was excised from the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The 1.7 kb fragment was ligated into a pCR®4 Blunt vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The construct was then transformed into ONE SHOT® TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's rapid chemical transformation procedure. Colonies were selected and analyzed by plasmid isolation and digestion with Hind III to release the 1.7 kb overlapping PCR fragment.

Plasmid pSMai140 was also digested with Hind III to linearize the plasmid. Both digested fragments were combined in a ligation reaction using a Rapid DNA Ligation Kit following the manufacturer's instructions to produce pSaMe-F1 (FIG. 11).

E. coli XL1-Blue Subcloning-Grade Competent Cells (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif., USA) were transformed with the ligation product. Identity of the construct was confirmed by DNA sequencing of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene promoter, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence, Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41, and the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene terminator sequence from plasmids purified from transformed E. coli. One clone containing the recombinant plasmid was designated pSaMe-F1. Plasmid pSaMe-F1 comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene promoter and terminator and the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal peptide sequence linked directly to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core polypeptide, which are fused directly to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal peptide, which is linked directly to the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 mature coding sequence. The DNA sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG fusion protein is shown in FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D (SEQ ID NOs: 25 and 26, respectively).

Example 10: Transformation of Trichoderma reesei RutC30 with pSaMe-F1

Shake flasks containing 25 ml of YP medium supplemented with 2% glucose and 10 mM uridine were inoculated with 5×10⁷ spores of Trichoderma reesei RutC30. Following incubation overnight for approximately 16 hours at 27° C., 90 rpm, the mycelia were collected using a Vacuum Driven Disposable Filtration System. The mycelia were washed twice in 100 ml of deionized water and twice in 1.2 M sorbitol. Protoplasts were generated as described in Example 6.

Two micrograms of pSaMe-F1 DNA linearized with Pme I, 100 μl of Trichoderma reesei RutC30 protoplasts, and 50% PEG (4000) were mixed and incubated for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then 3 ml of STC were added and the contents were poured onto a COVE plate supplemented with 10 mM uridine. The plate was then incubated at 28° C. Transformants began to appear by day 6 and were picked to COVE2 plates for growth at 28° C. and 6 days. Twenty-two Trichoderma reesei transformants were recovered.

Transformants were cultivated in shake flasks on cellulase-inducing medium, and beta-glucosidase activity was measured as described in Example 6. A number of pSaMe-F1 transformants produced beta-glucosidase activity. One transformant, designated Trichoderma reesei SaMeF1-9, produced the highest amount of beta-glucosidase, and had twice the activity of a strain expressing the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant (Example 9).

Endoglucanase activity was assayed using a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) overlay assay according to Beguin, 1983, Analytical Biochem. 131(2): 333-336. Five μg of total protein from five of the broth samples (those having the highest beta-glucosidase activity) were diluted in Native Sample Buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) and run on a CRITERION® 8-16% Tris-HCl gel (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) using 10×Tris/glycine running buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) and then the gel was laid on top of a plate containing 1% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). After 1 hour incubation at 37° C., the gel was stained with 0.1% Congo Red for 20 minutes. The plate was then destained using 1 M NaCl in order to identify regions of clearing indicative of endoglucanase activity. Two clearing zones were visible, one upper zone around 110 kDa and a lower zone around 25 kDa. The predicted protein size of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V and Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 fusion is 118 kDa if the two proteins are not cleaved and remain as a single polypeptide; glycosylation of the individual endoglucanase V core domain and of the beta-glucosidase leads to migration of the individual proteins at higher mw than predicted from the primary sequence. If the two proteins are cleaved then the predicted sizes for the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core domain is 24 kDa and 94 kDa for Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41. Since there was a clearing zone at 110 kDa this result indicated that minimally a population of the endoglucanase and beta-glucosidase fusion protein remains intact as a single large protein. The lower clearing zone most likely represents the endogenous endoglucanase activity, and possibly additionally results from partial cleavage of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core domain from the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase.

The results demonstrated the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core was active even though it was linked to the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase. In addition, the increase in beta-glucosidase activity appeared to result from increased secretion of protein relative to the secretion efficiency of the non-fusion beta-glucosidase. By linking the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 sequence to the efficiently secreted Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core, more beta-glucosidase was secreted.

Example 11: Construction of Vector pSaMe-FX

Plasmid pSaMe-FX was constructed by modifying pSaMe-F1. Plasmid pSaMe-F1 was digested with Bst Z17 and Eco RI to generate a 1 kb fragment that contained the beta-glucosidase variant BG41 coding sequence and a 9.2 kb fragment containing the remainder of the plasmid. The fragments were separated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer and the 9.2 kb fragment was excised and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. Plasmid pSMai135 was also digested with Bst Z17 and Eco RI to generate a 1 kb fragment containing bases homologous to the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 coding sequence and a 8.5 kb fragment containing the remainder of the plasmid. The 1 kb fragment was isolated and purified as above.

The 9.2 kb and 1 kb fragments were combined in a ligation reaction using a Rapid DNA Ligation Kit following the manufacturer's instructions to produce pSaMe-FX, which is identical to pSaMe-F1 except that it contained the wild-type beta-glucosidase mature coding sequence rather than the variant mature coding sequence.

E. coli SURE® Competent Cells (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif., USA) were transformed with the ligation product. Identity of the construct was confirmed by DNA sequencing of plasmids purified from transformed E. coli demonstrating the presence of the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene promoter, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core sequence, Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence, Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase mature coding sequence, and the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I gene terminator sequence One clone containing the recombinant plasmid was designated pSaMe-FX (FIG. 13). The DNA sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein is shown in FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D (SEQ ID NOs: 27 and 28, respectively).

Example 12: Transformation and Expression of Trichoderma Transformants

The pSaMe-FX construct was linearized with Pme I and transformed into the Trichoderma reesei RutC30 strain as described in Example 10. A total of 63 transformants were obtained from a single transformation. Transformants were cultivated in shake flasks on cellulase-inducing medium, and beta-glucosidase activity was measured as described in Example 6. A number of pSaMe-FX transformants produced beta-glucosidase activity. One transformant designated SaMe-FX16 produced twice the amount of beta-glucosidase activity compared to Trichoderma reesei SaMeF1-9 (Example 10).

Example 13: Analysis of Trichoderma reesei Transformants

A fusion protein was constructed as described in Example 9 by fusing the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core (containing its own native signal sequence) with the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 mature coding sequence linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence. This fusion construct resulted in a two-fold increase in secreted beta-glucosidase activity compared to the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase variant BG41 mature coding sequence linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence. A second fusion construct was made as described in Example 11 consisting of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core (containing its own signal sequence) fused with the Aspergillus oryzae wild-type beta-glucosidase coding sequence linked to the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V signal sequence, and this led to an even further improvement in beta-glucosidase activity. The strain transformed with the wild-type fusion had twice the secreted beta-glucosidase activity relative to the strain transformed with the beta-glucosidase variant BG41 fusion.

Example 14: Cloning of the Beta-Glucosidase Fusion Protein Encoding Sequence into an Aspergillus oryzae Expression Vector

Two synthetic oligonucleotide primers, shown below, were designed to PCR amplify the full-length open reading frame from pSaMeFX encoding the beta-glucosidase fusion protein.

PCR Forward primer: (SEQ ID NO: 69) 5′-GGACTGCGCAGCATGCGTTC-3′ PCR Reverse primer: (SEQ ID NO: 70) 5′-AGTTAATTAATTACTGGGCCTTAGGCAGCG-3′ Bold letters represent coding sequence. The underlined “G” in the forward primer represents a base change introduced to create an Sph I restriction site. The remaining sequence contains sequence identity compared with the insertion sites of pSaMeFX. The underlined sequence in the reverse primer represents a Pac I restriction site added to facilitate cloning into the expression vector pAlLo2 (WO 04/099228).

Fifty picomoles of each of the primers above were used in a PCR reaction containing 50 ng of pSaMeFX DNA, 1×Pfx Amplification Buffer, 6 μl of 10 mM blend of dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP, 2.5 units of PLATINUM® Pfx DNA Polymerase, and 1 μl of 50 mM MgSO₄ in a final volume of 50 μl. An EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 was used to amplify the fragment programmed for 1 cycle at 98° C. for 2 minutes; and 35 cycles each at 96° C. for 30 seconds, 61° C. for 30 seconds, and 68° C. for 3 minutes. After the 35 cycles, the reaction was incubated at 68° C. for 10 minutes and then cooled at 10° C. until further processed. A 3.3 kb PCR reaction product was isolated on a 0.8% GTG-agarose gel (Cambrex Bioproducts One Meadowlands Plaza East Rutherford, N.J., USA) using TAE buffer and 0.1 μg of ethidium bromide per ml. The DNA was visualized with the aid of a DARK READER™ (Clare Chemical Research, Dolores, Colo., USA) to avoid UV-induced mutations. A 3.3 kb DNA band was excised with a disposable razor blade and purified with an ULTRAFREE®-DA spin cup (Millipore, Billerica, Mass., USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The purified 3.3 kb PCR product was cloned into a pCR®4Blunt-TOPO® vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif., USA). Four microliters of the purified PCR product were mixed with 1 μl of a 2 M sodium chloride solution and 1 μl of the TOPO® vector. The reaction was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes and then 2 μl of the reaction were used to transform One Shot® TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli cells according to the manufacturer's instructions. Three aliquots of 83 μl each of the transformation reaction were spread onto three 150 mm 2X YT plates supplemented with 100 μg of ampicillin per ml and incubated overnight at 37° C.

Eight recombinant colonies were used to inoculate liquid cultures containing 3 ml of LB medium supplemented with 100 μg of ampicillin per ml. Plasmid DNA was prepared from these cultures using a BIOROBOT® 9600 (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, Calif., USA). Clones were analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion with Pac I. Plasmid DNA from each clone was digested with Pac I and analyzed by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer. All eight clones had the expected restriction digest pattern and clones 5, 6, 7, and 8 were selected to be sequenced to confirm that there were no mutations in the cloned insert. Sequence analysis of their 5′ and 3′ ends indicated that all 4 clones had the correct sequence. Clones 5 and 7 were selected for further sequencing. Both clones were sequenced to Phred Q values of greater than 40 to ensure that there were no PCR induced errors. Clones 5 and 7 were shown to have the expected sequence and clone 5 was selected for re-cloning into pAlLo2.

Plasmid DNA from clone 5 was linearized by digestion with Sph I. The linearized clone was then blunt-ended by adding 1.2 μl of a 10 mM blend of dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP and 6 units of T4 DNA polymerase (New England Bioloabs, Inc., Ipswich, Mass., USA). The mixture was incubated at 12° C. for 20 minutes and then the reaction was stopped by adding 1 μl of 0.5 M EDTA and heating at 75° C. for 20 minutes to inactivate the enzyme. A 3.3 kb fragment encoding the beta-glucosidase fusion protein was purified by gel electrophoresis and ultrafiltration as described above.

The vector pAlLo2 was linearized by digestion with Nco I. The linearized vector was then blunt-ended by adding 0.5 μl of a 10 mM blend of dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP and one unit of DNA polymerase I. The mixture was incubated at 25° C. for 15 minutes and then the reaction was stopped by adding 1 μl of 0.5 M EDTA and heating at 75° C. for 15 minutes to inactivate the enzyme. Then the vector was digested with Pac I. The blunt-ended vector was purified by gel electrophoresis and ultrafiltration as described above.

Cloning of the 3.3 kb fragment encoding the beta-glucosidase fusion protein into the linearized and purified pAlLo2 vector was performed with a Rapid Ligation Kit. A 1 μl sample of the reaction was used to transform E. coli XL10 SOLOPACK® Gold cells (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. After the recovery period, two 100 μl aliquots from the transformation reaction were plated onto two 150 mm 2X YT plates supplemented with 100 μg of ampicillin per ml and incubated overnight at 37° C. A set of eight putative recombinant clones was selected at random from the selection plates and plasmid DNA was prepared from each one using a BIOROBOT® 9600. Clones 1-4 were selected for sequencing with pAlLo2-specific primers to confirm that the junction vector/insert had the correct sequence. Clone 3 had a perfect vector/insert junction and was designated pAlLo47 (FIG. 15).

In order to create a marker-free expression strain, a restriction endonuclease digestion was performed to separate the blaA gene that confers resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin from the rest of the expression construct. Thirty micrograms of pAlLo47 were digested with Pme I. The digested DNA was then purified by agarose gel electrophoresis as described above. A 6.4 kb DNA band containing the expression construct but lacking the blaA gene was excised with a razor blade and purified with a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit.

Example 15: Expression of the Humicola insolens/Aspergillus Oryzae cel45A-cel3A Fusion Gene in Aspergillus oryzae JaL355

Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 (WO 00/240694) protoplasts were prepared according to the method of Christensen et al., 1988, Bio/Technology 6: 1419-1422. Ten microliters of the purified expression construct of Example 14 were used to transform Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 protoplasts. The transformation of Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 yielded approximately 90 transformants. Fifty transformants were isolated to individual PDA plates and incubated for five days at 34° C.

Forty-eight confluent spore plates were washed with 3 ml of 0.01% TWEEN® 80 and the spore suspension was used to inoculate 25 ml of MDU2BP medium in 125 ml glass shake flasks. Transformant cultures were incubated at 34° C. with constant shaking at 200 rpm. After 5 days, 1 ml aliquots of each culture was centrifuged at 12,000×g and their supernatants collected. Five μl of each supernatant were mixed with an equal volume of 2X loading buffer (10% beta-mercaptoethanol) and loaded onto a 1.5 mm 8%-16% Tris-Glycine SDS-PAGE gel and stained with BIO-SAFE® Coomassie Blue G250 protein stain (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA). SDS-PAGE profiles of the culture broths showed that 33 out of 48 transformants were capable of expressing a new protein with an apparent molecular weight very close to the expected 118 kDa. Transformant 21 produced the best yield and was selected for further studies.

Example 16: Single Spore Isolation of Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 Transformant 21

Aspergillus oryzae JaL355 transformant 21 spores were spread onto a PDA plate and incubated for five days at 34° C. A small area of the confluent spore plate was washed with 0.5 ml of 0.01% TWEEN® 80 to resuspend the spores. A 100 μl aliquot of the spore suspension was diluted to a final volume of 5 ml with 0.01% TWEEN® 80. With the aid of a hemocytometer the spore concentration was determined and diluted to a final concentration of 0.1 spores per microliter. A 200 μl aliquot of the spore dilution was spread onto 150 mm Minimal medium plates and incubated for 2-3 days at 34° C. Emerging colonies were excised from the plates and transferred to PDA plates and incubated for 3 days at 34° C. Then the spores were spread across the plates and incubated again for 5 days at 34° C.

The confluent spore plates were washed with 3 ml of 0.01% TWEEN® 80 and the spore suspension was used to inoculate 25 ml of MDU2BP medium in 125 ml glass shake flasks. Single-spore cultures were incubated at 34° C. with constant shaking at 200 rpm. After 5 days, a 1 ml aliquot of each culture was centrifuged at 12,000×g and their supernatants collected. Five μl of each supernatant were mixed with an equal volume of 2X loading buffer (10% beta-mercaptoethanol) and loaded onto a 1.5 mm 8%-16% Tris-Glycine SDS-PAGE gel and stained with BIO-SAFE® Commassie Blue G250 protein stain. SDS-PAGE profiles of the culture broths showed that all eight transformants were capable of expressing the beta-glucosidase fusion protein at very high levels and one of cultures designated Aspergillus oryzae JaL355AlLo47 produced the best yield.

Example 17: Construction of pCW087

Two synthetic oligonucleotide primers shown below were designed to PCR amplify a Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide gene from plasmid pDZA2-7 (WO 2005/074656). The forward primer results in a blunt 5′ end and the reverse primer incorporates a Pac I site at the 3′ end.

Forward Primer: (SEQ ID NO: 71) 5′-ATGTCCTTTTCCAAGATAATTGCTACTG-3′ Reverse Primer: (SEQ ID NO: 72) 5′-GCTTAATTAACCAGTATACAGAGGAG-3′

Fifty picomoles of each of the primers above were used in a PCR reaction consisting of 50 ng of pDZA2-7, 1 μl of 10 mM blend of dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP, 5 μl of 10× ACCUTAQ™ DNA Polymerase Buffer (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo., USA), and 5 units of ACCUTAQ™ DNA Polymerase (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo., USA), in a final volume of 50 μl. An EPPENDORF® MASTERCYCLER® 5333 was used to amplify the DNA fragment programmed for 1 cycle at 95° C. for 3 minutes; 30 cycles each at 94° C. for 45 seconds, 55° C. for 60 seconds, and 72° C. for 1 minute 30 seconds. After the 25 cycles, the reaction was incubated at 72° C. for 10 minutes and then cooled at 4° C. until further processing. The 3′ end of the Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A PCR fragment was digested using Pac I. The digestion product was purified using a MINELUTE™ Reaction Cleanup Kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, Calif., USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The GH61A fragment was directly cloned into pSMai155 (WO 2005/074647) utilizing a blunted Nco I site at the 5′ end and a Pac I site at the 3′ end. Plasmid pSMai155 was digested with Nco I and Pac I. The Nco I site was then rendered blunt using Klenow enzymes to fill in the 5′ recessed Nco I site. The Klenow reaction consisted of 20 μl of the pSma155 digestion reaction mix plus 1 mM dNTPs and 1 μl of Klenow enzyme, which was incubated briefly at room temperature. The newly linearized pSMai155 plasmid was purified using a MINELUTE™ Reaction Cleanup Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. These reactions resulted in the creation a 5′ blunt end and 3′ Pac I site compatible to the newly generated GH61A fragment. The GH61A fragment was then cloned into pSMai155 expression vector using a Rapid DNA Ligation Kit (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind., USA) following the manufacturer's instructions. E. coli XL1-Blue Subcloning-Grade Competent Cells (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif., USA) were transformed with the ligation product. Identity of the construct was confirmed by DNA sequencing of the GH61A coding sequence from plasmids purified from transformed E. coli. One E. coli clone containing the recombinant plasmid was designated pCW087-8.

Example 18: Construction of pSaMe-Ta61A

Expression vector pSaMe-Ta61 was constructed by digesting plasmid pMJ09 (WO 2005/056772), which harbors the amdS selectable marker, with Nsi I, which liberated a 2.7 kb amdS fragment. The 2.7 kb amdS fragment was then isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit.

Expression vector pCW087 was digested with Nsi I and a 4.7 kb fragment was isolated by 1.0% agarose gel electrophoresis using TAE buffer and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit. The 2.7 kb amdS fragment was then ligated to the 4.7 kb vector fragment, using T4 DNA ligase (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind., USA) according to manufacturer's protocol, to create the expression vector pSaMe-Ta61A. Plasmid pSaMe-Ta61A comprises the Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (CEL7A) gene promoter and terminator operably linked to the Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A mature coding sequence.

Example 19: Construction of Trichoderma reesei Strain SaMe-MF268

A co-transformation was utilized to introduce plasmids pSaMe-FX and pSaMe-Ta61A into Trichoderma reesei RutC30. Plasmids pSaMe-FX and pSaMe-Ta61A were introduced into Trichoderma reesei RutC30 by PEG-mediated transformation (Penttila et al., 1987, supra). Each plasmid contained the Aspergillus nidu/ans amdS gene to enable transformants to grow on acetamide as the sole nitrogen source.

Trichoderma reesei RutC30 was cultivated at 27° C. and 90 rpm in 25 ml of YP medium supplemented with 2% (w/v) glucose and 10 mM uridine for 17 hours. Mycelia were collected by filtration using a Vacuum Driven Disposable Filtration System and washed twice with deionized water and twice with 1.2 M sorbitol. Protoplasts were generated by suspending the washed mycelia in 20 ml of 1.2 M sorbitol containing 15 mg of GLUCANEX® (Novozymes A/S, Bagsvrd, Denmark) per ml and 0.36 units of chitinase (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo., USA) per ml and incubating for 15-25 minutes at 34° C. with gentle shaking at 90 rpm. Protoplasts were collected by centrifuging for 7 minutes at 400×g and washed twice with cold 1.2 M sorbitol. The protoplasts were counted using a haemacytometer and re-suspended in STC to a final concentration of 1×10⁸ protoplasts per ml. Excess protoplasts were stored in a Cryo 1° C. Freezing Container (Nalgene, Rochester, N.Y., USA) at −80° C.

Approximately 4 μg each of plasmids pSaMe-FX and pSaMe-Ta61A were digested with Pme I to facilitate removal of the antibiotic resistance marker, ampR. Following digestion with Pme I the linear fragments were run on a 1% agarose gel using TAE buffer to separate the various fragments. A 7.5 kb fragment from pSaMe-FX and a 4.7 kb fragment from pSaMe-Ta61A were cut out of the gel and purified using a QIAQUICK® Gel Extraction Kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. These purified fragments contain the amdS selectable marker cassette, the Trichoderma reesei cbh1 gene promoter and terminator; additionally, the fragment includes the Humicola insolens EGV core/Aspergillus oryzae BG fusion coding sequence or the T. aurantiacus GH61A coding sequence. The fragments used in transformation did not contain antibiotic resistance markers, as the ampR fragment was removed by this gel purification step. The purified fragments were then added to 100 μl of protoplast solution and mixed gently, followed by 260 μl of PEG buffer, mixed, and incubated at room temperature for 30 minutes. STC (3 ml) was then added and mixed and the transformation solution was plated onto COVE plates using amdS selection. The plates were incubated at 28° C. for 5-7 days. Transformants were sub-cultured onto COVE2 plates and grown at 28° C.

Over 400 transformants were subcultured onto fresh plates containing acetamide and allowed to sporulate for 7 days at 28° C.

The Trichoderma reesei transformants were cultivated in 125 ml baffled shake flasks containing 25 ml of cellulase-inducing medium at pH 6.0 inoculated with spores of the transformants and incubated at 28° C. and 200 rpm for 5 days. Trichoderma reesei RutC30 was run as a control. Culture broth samples were removed at day 5. One ml of each culture broth was centrifuged at 15,700×g for 5 minutes in a micro-centrifuge and the supernatants transferred to new tubes.

SDS-PAGE was carried out using CRITERION® Tris-HCl (5% resolving) gels with the CRITERION® System. Five μl of day 5 supernatants (see above) were suspended in 2X concentration of Laemmli Sample Buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) and boiled in the presence of 5% beta-mercaptoethanol for 3 minutes. The supernatant samples were loaded onto a polyacrylamide gel and subjected to electrophoresis with 1×Tris/Glycine/SDS as running buffer (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA). The resulting gel was stained with BIO-SAFE® Coomassie Stain. Transformants showing expression of both the Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide and the fusion protein consisting of the Humicola insolens endoglucanase V core (Ce145A) fused with the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase as seen by visualization of bands on SDS-PAGE gels were then tested in PCS hydrolysis reactions to identify the strains producing the best hydrolytic broths.

Example 20: Identification of Trichoderma reesei Strain SaMe-MF268

The transformants showing expression of both the Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide and the Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein were cultivated in 125 ml baffled shake flasks containing 25 ml of cellulase-inducing medium at pH 6.0 inoculated with spores of the transformants and incubated at 28° C. and 200 rpm for 5 days.

The shake flask culture broths were centrifuged at 6000×g and filtered using STERICUP™ EXPRESS™ (Millipore, Bedford, Mass., USA) to 0.22 μm prior to hydrolysis. The activity of the culture broths was measured by their ability to hydrolyze the PCS and produce sugars detectable by a chemical assay of their reducing ends.

Corn stover was pretreated at the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Boulder, Colo., USA, using dilute sulfuric acid. The following conditions were used for the pretreatment: 0.048 g sulfuric acid/g dry biomass at 190° C. and 25% w/w dry solids for around 1 minute. The water-insoluble solids in the pretreated corn stover (PCS) contained 59.2% cellulose as determined by a limit digest of PCS to release glucose and cellobiose. Prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, the PCS was washed with a large volume of double deionized water; the dry weight of the water-washed PCS was found to be 17.73%.

PCS in the amount of 1 kg was suspended in approximately 20 liters of double deionized water and, after the PCS settled, the water was decanted. This was repeated until the wash water was above pH 4.0, at which time the reducing sugars were lower than 0.06 g per liter. For small volume assays (e.g., 1 ml) the settled slurry was sieved through 100 Mesh screens to ensure ability to pipette. Percent dry weight content of the washed PCS was determined by drying the sample at a 105° C. oven for at least 24 hours (until constant weight) and comparing to the wet weight.

PCS hydrolysis was performed in a 1 ml volume in 96-deep-well plates (Axygen Scientific) heat sealed by an ALPS300™ automated lab plate sealer (ABgene Inc., Rochester, N.Y., USA). PCS concentration was 10 g per liter in 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5.0. PCS hydrolysis was performed at 50° C. without additional stirring except during sampling as described. Each reaction was performed in triplicate. Released reducing sugars were analyzed by p-hydroxy benzoic acid hydrazide (PHBAH) reagent as described below.

A volume of 0.8 ml of PCS (12.5 g per liter in water) was pipetted into each well of 96-deep-well plates, followed by 0.10 ml of 0.5 M sodium acetate pH 5.0, and then 0.10 ml of diluted enzyme solution to start the reaction with a final reaction volume of 1.0 ml and PCS concentration of 10 g per liter. Plates were sealed. The reaction mixture was mixed by inverting the deep-well plate at the beginning of hydrolysis and before taking each sample time point. At each sample time point the plate was mixed and then the deep-well plate was centrifuged (SORVALL® RT7 with RTH-250 rotor) at 2000 rpm for 10 minutes before 20 μl of hydrolysate (supernatant) was removed and added to 180 μl of 0.4% NaOH in a 96-well microplate. This stopped solution was further diluted into the proper range of reducing sugars, when necessary. The reducing sugars released were assayed by para-hydroxy benzoic acid hydrazide reagent (PHBAH, Sigma, 4-hydroxy benzyhydrazide): 50 μl of PHBAH reagent (1.5%) were mixed with 100 μl of sample in a V-bottom 96-well THERMOWELL™ plate (Costar 6511), incubated on a plate heating block at 95° C. for 10 minutes, and then 50 μl of double deionized water was added to each well, mixed, and 100 μl was transferred to another flat-bottom 96-well plate (Costar 9017) and absorbance read at 410 nm. Reducing sugar was calculated using a glucose calibration curve under the same conditions. Percent conversion of cellulose to reducing sugars was calculated as:

% conversion=reducing sugars (mg/ml)/(cellulose added (mg/ml)×1.11)

The factor 1.11 corrects for the weight gain in hydrolyzing cellulose to glucose.

Following the 1 ml PCS hydrolysis testing, the top candidates were grown in duplicate in fermentors according to the following protocol. One hundred ml of the following shake flask medium was added to a 500 ml shake flask. The shake flask medium was composed per liter of 20 g of dextrose, 10 g of corn steep solids, 1.45 g of (NH₄)₂SO₄, 2.08 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.36 g of CaCl₂, 0.42 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, and 0.42 ml of trace metals solution. Trace metals solution was composed per liter of 216 g of FeCl₃.6H₂O, 58 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 27 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 10 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 2.4 g of H₃BO₃, and 336 g of citric acid. The shake flask was inoculated with two plugs from a solid plate culture of Trichoderma reesei SMA135-04 and incubated at 28° C. on an orbital shaker at 200 rpm for 48 hours. Fifty ml of the shake flask broth was used to inoculate a 3 liter fermentation vessel containing 1.8 liters of a fermentation batch medium composed per liter of 30 g of cellulose, 4 g of dextrose, 10 g of corn steep solids, 3.8 g of (NH₄)₂50₄, 2.8 g of KH₂PO₄, 2.64 g of CaCl₂, 1.63 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 1.8 ml of anti-foam, and 0.66 ml of trace metals solution. Trace metals solution was composed per liter of 216 g of FeCl₃.6H₂O, 58 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 27 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 10 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, 2.4 g of H₃BO₃, and 336 g of citric acid. Fermentation feed medium was composed of dextrose and cellulose, which was dosed at a rate of 0 to 4 g/l/hr for a period of 165 hours. The fermentation vessel was maintained at a temperature of 28° C. and pH was controlled to a set-point of 4.75+/−0.1. Air was added to the vessel at a rate of 1 vvm and the broth was agitated by Rushton impeller rotating at 1100 to 1300 rpm.

Total protein concentration was determined and broths were re-tested in 50 g PCS hydrolysis reactions as described below. Enzyme dilutions were prepared fresh before each experiment from stock enzyme solutions, which were stored at 4° C.

Hydrolysis of PCS was conducted using 125 ml screw-top Erlenmeyer flasks (VWR, West Chester, Pa., USA) using a total reaction mass of 50 g according to NREL Laboratory Analytical Protocol #008. In this protocol hydrolysis of PCS (approximately 11.4% in PCS and 6.8% cellulose in aqueous 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5.0 buffer) was performed using different protein loadings (expressed as mg of protein per gram of cellulose) of the 2 liter fermentation broth samples, described above. Testing of PCS hydrolyzing capability was performed at 50° C. with orbital shaking at 150 rpm using an INNOVAO 4080 Incubator (New Brunswick Scientific, Edison, N.J., USA). Aliquots were taken during the course of hydrolysis at 72, 120, and 168 hours and centrifuged, and the supernatant liquid was filtered using a MULTISCREEN® HV 0.45 μm membrane (Millipore, Billerica, Mass., USA) by centrifugation at 2000 rpm for 10 minutes using a SORVALL® RT7 plate centrifuge (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, Mass., USA). When not used immediately, filtered sugary aliquots were frozen at −20° C. Sugar concentrations of samples diluted in 0.005 M H₂SO₄ were measured after elution by 0.005 M H₂SO₄ at a flow rate of 0.4 ml per minute from a 4.6×250 mm AMINEX® HPX-87H column (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) at 65° C. with quantitation by integration of glucose and cellobiose signals from refractive index detection using a CHEMSTATION® AGILENT® 1100 HPLC (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, Calif., USA) calibrated by pure sugar samples. The resultant equivalents were used to calculate the percentage of cellulose conversion for each reaction.

The degree of cellulose conversion to glucose plus cellobiose sugars (conversion, %) was calculated using the following equation:

Conversion (%)=(glucose+cellobiose×1.053)_((mg/ml))×100×162/(cellulose_((mg/ml))×180)=(glucose+cellobiose×1.053)_((mg/ml))×100/(cellulose_((mg/ml))×1.111)

In this equation the factor 1.111 reflects the weight gain in converting cellulose to glucose, and the factor 1.053 reflects the weight gain in converting cellobiose to glucose.

The results of the PCS hydrolysis reactions in the 50 g flask assay described above are shown in Table 1. One strain that produced the highest performing broth was designated Trichoderma reesei SaMe-MF268.

TABLE 1 Percent conversion to sugars at 168 hour timepoint Percent conversion (glucose plus cellobiose) for protein loading Broth ID-Strain Name 2.5 mg/g cellulose 4.0 mg/g cellulose XCL-461-SaMe-MF268 66.29 80.08 XCL-465-SaMe-MF268 69.13 82.80 XCL-462-SaMe-MF330 62.98 77.99 XCL-466-SaMe-MF330 63.34 77.90 XCL-463-SaMe-MF377 64.03 78.45 XCL-467-SaMe-MF377 64.19 79.06

Example 21: Preparation of Trichoderma reesei Broths Containing Thermoascus Aurantiacus Polypeptide GH61A and Apergillus Oryzae Beta-Glucosidase Fusion Protein

Fermentation broth samples, prepared as described in Example 20, were cleared of cellular debris by centrifuging for approximately 20 minutes at 9500×g. Cleared broth samples were then filtered using a MILLEX® GP Express™ membrane, polyethersulfone, 0.22 μm (Millipore, Bedford, Mass., USA). The filtered broth samples were then desalted using a HIPREP™ 26/10 Desalting Column (AKTA™, GE Healthcare, Piscataway, N.J., USA). Protein concentrations of the desalted material were determined using a BCA™ Protein Assay Kit (Pierce, Rockford, Ill., USA) in which bovine serum albumin was used as a protein standard and calculation made for protein in filtered broth. Aliquots were typically analyzed on 8-16% CRITERION™ SDS-PAGE gels (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.; 200 V for 1 hour) in which PRECISION PLUS PROTEIN™ molecular weight standards (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) were included. Gels were stained for protein using BIO-SAFE™ Coomassie Stain (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA) and destained using deionized water. Estimates for the amount of Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide and fusion protein comprising Humicola insolens GH45 core protein and Apergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase were made from quantitation of scans of stained gels or by peak size after analysis by EXPERION™ capillary electrophoresis (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif., USA).

Example 22: Increase in Cellulolytic Activity of Trichoderma reesei Broth Containing Apergillus Oryzae Beta-Glucosidase Fusion Protein when Combined with Metal Ions and Thermoascus aurantiacus Polypeptide GH61A

Corn stover was pretreated at the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using dilute sulfuric acid. The following conditions were used for the pretreatment: 1.4 wt % sulfuric acid at 195° C. for 4.5 minutes. According to limit digestion with excess cellulase enzymes, the water-insoluble solids in the pretreated corn stover (PCS) contained 59.2% cellulose. Prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, the PCS was washed with a large volume of deionized water until soluble acid and sugars were removed. The dry weight of the water-washed PCS was found to be 19.16%.

Hydrolysis of PCS was conducted using 125 ml screw-top Erlenmeyer flasks (VWR, West Chester, Pa., USA) using a total reaction mass of 50 g according to NREL Laboratory Analytical Protocol #008. In this protocol hydrolysis of PCS (approximately 11.3% in PCS and 6.7% cellulose in aqueous 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5.0 buffer) was performed using different protein loadings (expressed as mg of protein per gram of cellulose) of the Trichoderma reesei fermentation broth containing the Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein with and without addition of 10 mM final concentration of divalent metal ions in the form shown in Table 1. Testing of PCS hydrolyzing capability was performed at 50° C. with orbital shaking at 150 rpm using an INNOVA® 4080 Incubator (New Brunswick Scientific, Edison, N.J., USA). Aliquots were taken during the course of hydrolysis at 72 and 120 hours. Aliquots were centrifuged, and the supernatant liquid was filtered using a MULTISCREEN® HV 0.45 μm membrane by centrifugation at 2000 rpm for 15 minutes using a SORVALL® RT7 plate centrifuge. When not used immediately, filtered sugary aliquots were frozen at −20° C. Sugar concentrations of samples diluted in 0.005 M H₂₅₀₄ were measured after elution by 0.005 M H₂SO₄ at a flow rate of 0.4 ml per minute from a 4.6×250 mm AMINEX® HPX-87H column at 65° C. with quantitation by integration of glucose and cellobiose signal from refractive index detection using a CHEMSTATION®, AGILENT® 1100 HPLC (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, Calif., USA) calibrated by pure sugar samples. The resultant equivalents were used to calculate the percentage of cellulose conversion for each reaction.

The degree of cellulose conversion to glucose plus cellobiose sugars (conversion, %) was calculated using the following equation:

% Conversion=(glucose+cellobiose×1.053)_((mg/ml))×100×162/(cellulose_((mg/ml))×180)=(glucose+cellobiose×1.053)_((mg/ml))×100/(cellulose_((mg/ml))×1.111)

In this equation the factor 1.111 reflects the weight gain in converting cellulose to glucose, and the factor 1.053 reflects the weight gain in converting cellobiose to glucose. Cellulose in PCS was determined by a limit digest of PCS to release glucose and cellobiose.

Enzyme dilutions were prepared fresh before each experiment from stock enzyme solutions, which were stored at 4° C.

The results shown in Table 2 demonstrated that addition of 10 mM MnSO₄ increased conversion to glucose above that obtained by equivalent amounts of fermentation broth alone at protein levels from 4 to 8 mg/g cellulose. Similarly, CaCl₂, MgC1 ₂, or CoCl₂ added to 10 mM increased conversion to glucose above that obtained by equivalent amounts of fermentation broth alone at protein levels from 4 to 8 mg/g cellulose. Addition of other divalent metal salts such as 10 mM ZnCl₂ or FeSO₄, or the addition of 10 mM EDTA, a chelator of divalent cations, decreased the yield of glucose and cellobiose. The results for 72 hour hydrolysis are shown in FIG. 16.

The addition of 10 mM MnSO₄, CaCl₂, MgCl₂, or CoCl₂ to cellulase-containing solutions increased, therefore, the yield of glucose and cellobiose upon hydrolysis of acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS) in comparison to addition other metals salts.

TABLE 2 Actual Actual % Actual % total Mixture of Biomass Cellulose protein enzymes and Content Content mg/g Conversion Conversion Experiment metal (w/w) (w/w) cellulose 72 hr 120 hr 1 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 74.10 84.62 2 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 84.59 91.94 3 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 88.68 95.20 7 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 74.79 86.14 Ca++ 8 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 85.77 95.11 Ca++ 9 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 89.54 96.29 Ca++ 10 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 75.31 87.08 Mg++ 11 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 86.99 95.12 Mg++ 12 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 90.49 97.56 Mg++ 13 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 79.30 86.77 Mn++ 14 SaMe MF268 11.33 6.70 6.00 91.65 95.23 Mn++ 15 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 98.03 98.70 Mn++ 16 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 56.00 63.38 Zn++ 17 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 65.79 75.03 Zn++ 18 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 74.88 84.22 Zn++ 19 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.00 33.80 35.83 Fe++ 20 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 42.50 44.88 Fe++ 21 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 49.74 50.21 Fe++ 22 SaMe MF268 11.33 6.70 4.00 75.98 85.88 Co++ 23 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 87.86 94.33 Co++ 24 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 94.26 97.05 Co++ 25 SaMe MF268 11.31 6.69 4.00 57.94 65.94 EDTA 26 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 6.00 67.67 74.35 EDTA 27 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 8.00 72.85 77.69 EDTA

Example 23: The Increase in Cellulolytic Activity of Desalted Trichoderma reesei Broth Apergillus Oryzae Beta-Glucosidase when Combined with Metal Ions is Specific to Mixtures Containing Polypeptide GH61A

The Thermoascus aurantiacus polypeptide GH61A having cellulolytic enhancing activity was recombinantly produced in Aspergillus oryzae JaL250 according to WO 2005/074656. Fungal broth expressing Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase and Trichoderma reesei cellulases was recombinantly produced in Trichoderma reesei strain SMA135-04. Fermentations were run for each of these proteins as described below.

For fermentations involving Aspergillus oryzae, 100 ml of a shake flask medium was added to a 500 ml shake flask. The shake flask medium was composed per liter of 50 g of sucrose, 10 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g of CaCl₂, 2 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 2 g of K₂SO₄, 2 g of urea, 10 g of yeast extract, 2 g of citric acid, and 0.5 ml of trace metals solution. Trace metals solution was composed per liter of 13.8 g of FeSO₄.7H₂O, 14.3 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 8.5 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 2.5 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, and 3 g of citric acid. The shake flask was inoculated with two plugs from a solid plate culture of Aspergillus oryzae and incubated at 34° C. on an orbital shaker at 200 rpm for 24 hours. Fifty ml of the shake flask broth was used to inoculate a 3 liter fermentation vessel containing 1.8 liters of a fermentation batch medium composed per liter of 10 g of yeast extract, 24 g of sucrose, 5 g of (NH₄)₂SO₄, 2 g of KH₂PO₄, 0.5 g of CaCl₂.2H₂O, 2 g of MgSO₄.7H₂O, 1 g of citric acid, 2 g of K₂SO₄, 0.5 ml of anti-foam, and 0.5 ml of trace metals solution. Trace metals solution was composed per liter of 13.8 g of FeSO₄.7H₂O, 14.3 g of ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 8.5 g of MnSO₄.H₂O, 2.5 g of CuSO₄.5H₂O, and 3 g of citric acid. Fermentation feed medium was composed of maltose and antifoam. The fermentation feed medium was dosed at a rate of 0 to 4.4 g/l/hr for a period of 185 hours. The fermentation vessel was maintained at a temperature of 34° C. and pH was controlled to a set-point of 6.1+/−0.1. Air was added to the vessel at a rate of 1 vvm and the broth was agitated by Rushton impeller rotating at 1100 to 1300 rpm.

Fermentations involving Trichoderma reesei were performed as described in Example 20.

Crude broth samples were cleared of cellular debris by centrifuging for approximately 20 minutes at 9500×g. Cleared broth samples were then filtered using a MILLEX® GP Express™ membrane, polyethersulfone, 0.22 μm. The filtered broth samples were then desalted using a HIPREP™ 26/10 Desalting Column. Protein concentrations of the desalted material were determined using a BCA™ Protein Assay Kit in which bovine serum albumin was used as a protein standard and calculation made for protein in filtered broth. Aliquots were typically analyzed on 8-16% CRITERION™ SDS-PAGE gels (200 V for 1 hour) in which PRECISION PLUS PROTEIN™ molecular weight standards were included. Gels were stained for protein using BIO-SAFE™ Coomassie Stain (and destained using deionized water. Proteins were also prepared by desalting as above to remove metal ions dissolved in fermentation broths and are indicated by the prefix ds as seen in Tables 3 and 4.

Hydrolysis of PCS was conducted using 125 ml screw-top Erlenmeyer flasks with a total reaction mass of 50 g according to NREL Laboratory Analytical Protocol #008. In this protocol hydrolysis of PCS (approximately 11.3% in PCS and 6.7% cellulose in aqueous 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5.0 buffer) was performed using constant total protein loading (expressed as mg of enzyme per gram of cellulose) of a fermentation broth containing Trichoderma reesei broth containing Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase with and without addition of Thermoascus aurantiacus polypeptide GH61A with and without 1 mM final concentration of divalent metal ions in the form shown in Table 2. Testing of PCS hydrolyzing capability was performed as described in Example 22. The degree of cellulose conversion to glucose plus cellobiose sugars (% conversion) was calculated using the equation described in Example 22.

Enzyme dilutions were prepared fresh before each experiment from stock enzyme solutions, which were stored at 4° C.

The results shown in Table 3 demonstrated that addition of 1 mM divalent cations alone did not increase glucose conversion above that obtained by equivalent amounts of fermentation broth without inclusion of Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity. Similarly, inclusion of the GH61A polypeptide without addition of divalent metal cations did not increase glucose conversion. The results for 72 hour hydrolysis are plotted in FIG. 17.

The addition of 1 mM MnSO₄ or CaCl₂ to cellulase-containing solutions with Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increased, therefore, the yield of glucose and cellobiose upon hydrolysis of acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS). The increase was dependent on the presence of Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide. The addition of 1 mM of other metals such as Zn++ and Fe⁺⁺ or chelation of metals by 1 mM EDTA reduced the yield of glucose and cellobiose upon hydrolysis of acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS).

TABLE 3 Mixture of Conversion Conversion Experiment enzymes and metal 72 hr 120 hr 56 dsSMA135 54.42 62.65 58 dsSMA135 Ca++ 55.48 61.52 60 dsSMA135 Mn++ 45.19 60.11 62 dsSMA135 EDTA 49.65 59.52 64 dsSMA135 Zn++ 37.61 43.59 65 dsSMA135 + GH61A 56.97 76.41 66 dsSMA135 + GH61A Ca++ 63.23 77.79 67 dsSMA135 + GH61A Mn++ 67.43 84.02 68 dsSMA135 + GH61A EDTA 49.03 57.49 69 dsSMA135 + GH61A Zn++ 47.39 58.01

Example 24: The Increase in Cellulolytic Activity of Trichoderma reesei Broth Containing Apergillus Oryzae Beta-Glucosidase Fusion Protein and Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A Polypeptide when Combined with MnSO₄ and MgCl₂

Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a fusion protein consisting of the Humicola insolens GH45A core with Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase was recombinantly produced in Trichoderma reesei SaMe MF268 as described in Example 20.

Crude broth samples were cleared of cellular debris by centrifuging cultures for approximately 20 minutes at 9500×g. Cleared broth samples were then filtered using a MILLEX® GP Express™ membrane, polyethersulfone, 0.22 μm. The filtered broth samples were then desalted using a HIPREP™ 26/10 Desalting Column. Protein concentrations of the desalted material were determined using a BCA™ Protein Assay Kit in which bovine serum albumin was used as a protein standard and calculation made for protein in filtered broth. Aliquots were typically analyzed on 8-16% CRITERION™ SDS-PAGE gels (200 V for 1 hour) in which PRECISION PLUS PROTEIN™ molecular weight standards were included. Gels were stained for protein using BIO-SAFE™ Coomassie Stain (and destained using deionized water. Proteins were also prepared by desalting as above to remove metal ions dissolved in fermentation broths.

Hydrolysis of PCS was conducted using 125 ml screw-top Erlenmeyer flasks with a total reaction mass of 50 g according to NREL Laboratory Analytical Protocol #008. In this protocol hydrolysis of PCS (approximately 11.3% in PCS and 6.7% cellulose in aqueous 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5.0 buffer) was performed using constant total protein loading (expressed as mg of enzyme per gram of cellulose) of desalted or undesalted Trichoderma reesei fermentation broth containing Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase fusion protein and without Thermoascus aurantiacus GH61A polypeptide with increasing final concentration of MnSO₄ and MgCl₂ as shown in Table 4. Testing of PCS hydrolyzing capability was performed as described in Example 22. The degree of cellulose conversion to glucose plus cellobiose sugars (conversion, %) was calculated using the equation described in Example 22.

Enzyme dilutions were prepared fresh before each experiment from stock enzyme solutions, which were stored at 4° C.

The results shown in Table 4 demonstrated that addition of increasing concentration of MnSO₄ and MgCl₂ from 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, or 10 mM increased glucose conversion above that obtained by equivalent amounts of Trichoderma reesei SaMe MF268 without MnSO₄. Similarly, addition of MnSO₄ at increasing concentrations of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, or 10 mM showed no increase until approximately 1 mM when added to desalted Trichoderma reesei SaMe MF268 fermentation broth. The results for 72 hour hydrolysis are shown in FIG. 18.

The addition of MnSO₄ and MgCl₂ to a final concentration of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, or 10 mM of each metal ion to solutions containing Trichoderma reesei SaMe MF268 fermentation broth increased, therefore, the yield of glucose and cellobiose upon hydrolysis of acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS). The addition of MnSO₄ and MgCl₂ to a final concentration of 1 mM or 10 mM to solutions containing desalted Trichoderma reesei SaMe MF268 fermentation broth increased, therefore, the yield of glucose and cellobiose upon hydrolysis of acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS).

TABLE 4 Actual Actual % Actual % total Mixture of Biomass Cellulose protein enzymes and Content Content mg/g Conversion Conversion Experiment metal (w/w) (w/w) cellulose 72 hr 120 hr 46 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.03 69.20 80.61 47 SaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.03 73.56 82.98 0.01 mM ions 48 SaMe MF268 0.1 mM 11.31 6.69 4.03 74.59 84.82 ions 49 SaMe MF268 1 mM 11.21 6.63 4.03 75.62 84.56 ions 50 SaMe MF268 10 mM 10.29 6.09 4.03 76.02 84.45 ions 51 dsSaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.02 70.93 79.11 52 dsSaMe MF268 11.32 6.70 4.02 71.16 83.63 0.01 mM ions 53 dsSaMe MF268 11.31 6.69 4.02 70.88 83.30 0.1 mM ions 54 dsSaMe MF268 11.21 6.63 4.02 74.90 83.22 1 mM ions 55 dsSaMe MF268 10.29 6.09 4.02 74.17 79.01 10 mM ions

Deposits of Biological Material

The following biological material has been deposited under the terms of the Budapest Treaty with the Agricultural Research Service Patent Culture Collection, Northern Regional Research Center, 1815 University Street, Peoria, Ill., 61604, and given the following accession numbers:

Deposit Accession Number Date of Deposit E. coli strain pEJG120 NRRL B-30699 Dec. 19, 2003 E. coli strain pTter61C NRRL B-30823 Jan. 21, 2005 E. coli strain pTter61D NRRL B-30812 Jan. 21, 2005 E. coli strain pTter61E NRRL B-30814 Jan. 21, 2005 E. coli strain pTter61G NRRL B-30811 Jan. 21, 2005 E. coli strain pDZA2-7 NRRL B-30704 Jan. 30, 2004 E. coli strain pTr3337 NRRL B-30878 Sep. 20, 2005 E. coli TOP10 (pEJG113) NRRL B-30695 Oct. 17, 2003 E. coli TOP10 pKKAB NRRL B-30860 Jul. 8, 2005 NN049573 DSM 14240 Apr. 19, 2001

The strains have been deposited under conditions that assure that access to the cultures will be available during the pendency of this patent application to one determined by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to be entitled thereto under 37 C.F.R. § 1.14 and 35 U.S.C. § 122. The deposits represent substantially pure cultures of the deposited strains. The deposits are available as required by foreign patent laws in countries wherein counterparts of the subject application, or its progeny are filed. However, it should be understood that the availability of a deposit does not constitute a license to practice the subject invention in derogation of patent rights granted by governmental action.

The invention described and claimed herein is not to be limited in scope by the specific aspects herein disclosed, since these aspects are intended as illustrations of several aspects of the invention. Any equivalent aspects are intended to be within the scope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. In the case of conflict, the present disclosure including definitions will control.

Various references are cited herein, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. 

1-27. (canceled)
 28. A method for producing a fermentation product, comprising: (a) saccharifying a cellulose-containing material with a cellulolytic enzyme composition comprising an effective amount of a GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity and a soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is present at an effective concentration of about 0.001 mM to about 50 mM during degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material and the presence of the soluble activating divalent metal cation and the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity increases the degradation or conversion of the cellulose-containing material by the cellulolytic enzyme composition compared to the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity without the soluble activating divalent metal cation, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is selected from the group consisting of Mn⁺⁺, Co⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Ca⁺⁺, and a combination thereof; (b) fermenting the saccharified cellulose-containing material of step (a) with one or more fermenting microorganisms to produce the fermentation product; and (c) recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mn⁺⁺.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Co⁺⁺.
 31. The method of claim 28, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Mg⁺⁺.
 32. The method of claim 28, wherein the soluble activating divalent metal cation is Ca⁺⁺.
 33. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity comprising [ILMV]-P-X(4,5)-G-X-Y-[ILMV]-X-R-X-[EQ]-X(4)-[HNQ] (SEQ ID NO: 97 or SEQ ID NO: 98) and [FW]-[TF]-K-[AIV] (SEQ ID NO: 104), wherein X is any amino acid, X(4,5) is any amino acid at 4 or 5 contiguous positions, and X(4) is any amino acid at 4 contiguous positions; and (b) a GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity comprising [ILMV]-P-x(4,5)-G-x-Y-[ILMV]-x-R-x-[EQ]-x(3)-A-[HNQ] (SEQ ID NO: 102 or SEQ ID NO: 103), wherein x is any amino acid, x(4,5) is any amino acid at 4 or 5 contiguous positions, and x(3) is any amino acid at 3 contiguous positions; wherein the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity comprising [ILMV]-P-X(4,5)-G-X-Y-[ILMV]-X-R-X-[EQ]-X(4)-[HNQ] (SEQ ID NO: 97 or SEQ ID NO: 98) and [FW]-[TF]-K-[AIV] (SEQ ID NO: 104) optionally further comprises: (SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100) H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV], (SEQ ID NO: 101) [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV], or (SEQ ID NO: 99 or SEQ ID NO: 100) H-X(1,2)-G-P-X(3)-[YW]-[AILMV] and (SEQ ID NO: 101) [EQ]-X-Y-X(2)-C-X-[EHQN]-[FILV]-X-[ILV],

wherein X is any amino acid, X(1,2) is any amino acid at 1 position or 2 contiguous positions, X(3) is any amino acid at 3 contiguous positions, and X(2) is any amino acid at 2 contiguous positions.
 34. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a GH61 polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14; (b) a GH61 polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO: 13; and (c) a GH61 polypeptide comprising the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14; or a fragment thereof having cellulolytic enhancing activity.
 35. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide having cellulolytic enhancing activity is encoded by the polynucleotide contained in plasmid pEJG120 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30699, plasmid pTter61C which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30813, plasmid pTter61D which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30812, plasmid pTter61E which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30814, plasmid pTter61G which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30811, plasmid pDZA2-7 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30704, or plasmid pTr3337 which is contained in E. coli NRRL B-30878.
 36. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 96% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 97% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 142. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 98% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 99% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 41. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide comprises the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO: 14 or a fragment thereof having cellulolytic enhancing activity.
 42. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO:
 13. 43. The method of claim 28, wherein the GH61 polypeptide is encoded by a polynucleotide comprising the mature polypeptide coding sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, or SEQ ID NO:
 13. 44. The method of claim 28, where the GH61 polypeptide consists of the mature polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 8, or SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, or SEQ ID NO:
 14. 45. The method of claim 28, further comprising treating the cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of a beta-glucosidase.
 46. The method of claim 28, further comprising treating the cellulose-containing material with an effective amount of one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of a hemicellulase, esterase, protease, laccase, peroxidase, or a mixture thereof.
 47. The method of claim 28, further comprising supplementing the concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation to maintain the effective concentration of the soluble activating divalent metal cation at about 0.01 mM to about 25 mM, about 0.1 mM to about 25 mM, about 0.1 mM to about 10 mM, about 0.3 mM to about 5 mM, about 0.3 mM to about 2.5 mM, or about 0.3 mM to about 1 mM.
 48. The method of claim 28, wherein the cellulosic material is pretreated.
 49. The method of claim 28, wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed simultaneously.
 50. The method of claim 28, wherein the fermentation product is an alcohol, an organic acid, a ketone, an aldehyde, an amino acid, or a gas. 